


Legacies 2.0

by Werederg



Series: Rewrite and Related [1]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: AU where the show has better writing, Alternate Canon, Better characterization, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, Mental Health Issues, Things hopefully make more sense, Trans MG, Trauma, fixing continuity errors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2020-12-17 05:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 52,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21048701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werederg/pseuds/Werederg
Summary: “It’s weird, though, right?”“It doesn’t matter, man. As long as it gets Hector and Maria off my back.”The two boys voices ring through the dark city street. It is late, so late that not even an occasional passing car comes out of the shadows to interrupt their argument. There is a chill in the air and the full moon hangs low in the sky, glittering brightly in comparison to the dim city lights.~~~~This is basically just a complete Canon rewrite of Legacies, starting with the first episode and working forward. It focuses on improving chracterization, worldbuilding, exposition, and some plot elements, in order to make the narrative more coherrent and engaging. It is written with completeness in mind, so I will be doing my best to work through most of the material given by the show.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing fanfic, so please tell me what you think. Also my first time working with Ao3, so if I screw something up, let me know.  
I was compelled to write this after rewatching Legacies with my brother and some of the writing choices really started to bother me. I have changed quite a few things within canon, like adding characters to fill in gaps and replacing lots of dialogue I didn't like, as well as giving better representation to the issues that the show brings up.  
Disclaimer: I have not watched the vampire diaries or the originals, so I don't know as much about the world.  
If anyone is interested in talking about Legacies or sharing what they think about it, I would love to hear it. My Tumblr is @werederg, come say hi.  
Additionally, I do plan on updating this quite regularly, I'm feeling weekly. I have written ahead quite a bit, so no fear of running out of content anytime soon.

“It’s weird, though, right?”

“It doesn’t matter, man. As long as it gets Hector and Maria off my back.”

The two boys voices ring through the dark city street. It is late, so late that not even an occasional passing car comes out of the shadows to interrupt their argument. There is a chill in the air and the full moon hangs low in the sky, glittering brightly in comparison to the dim city lights.

Landon walks next to his foster brother, Rafael, down the dimly lit sidewalk. His hands are buried deep in the pockets of his hoodie and his curly black hair has fallen into his eyes. His face looks kind of sickly and strange in the intermittent light of passing streetlamps. Who wouldn’t be uncomfortable walking on a cold, dark night in the middle of the city? Well, Rafael doesn’t seem as bothered, walking confidently down the street, unaffected by the cold despite only wearing a long sleeved shirt.

“But, you’re not even Catholic, Raf.” Landon continues, eyes darting warily into the darkness. “Can you even confess your sins if you aren’t Catholic?”

“I don’t know, Landon. All I know is that when you throw a lawnmower through some patio doors, you’ve just got to accept the consequences, alright.” Raf says, turning to face his brother as he walks.

“I guess. But who even goes to church this late at night?”

“Dude.”

“Alright, I’m done.”

When they arrive at the church, Rafael enters inside without hesitation, leaving Landon to stall for a moment before hurrying in after him. The church is somehow less well lit than the street outside. The air inside is stale and smells like incense and resin and old wood. In the weak lamp light, the two boys approach Hector and Maria who are accompanied by a priest.

Rafael greets the priest in spanish easily and the priest instructs him to kneel down and pray with him.

“Landon, it’s okay, you can leave now.” Hector says, moving to usher Landon out.

“Oh,” Landon says, clearly not having considered that to be a possibility. He blinks a few times at his foster parents, his feet having no intent of moving from that spot. “I think I’d rather stay, actually.”

“Landon, this is between your brother and God, okay?” Maria says, moving in between Landon and Rafael.

Landon casts a worried look at his brother, still hesitant to move an inch.

“I’ve got it, bro. No worries,” Raf reassures.

Landon looks relatively unconvinced, but allows himself to be ushered out the doors. He shivers as he is exposed to the cold night air again and lets himself glance inside the church one more time, hardly even able to see Rafael anymore. Landon sighs and turns his back to the church, pulling his headphones out of his pocket. It takes a second to untangle them enough so he can pop one in each ear. The song playing is “Love is Madness” by Thirty Seconds to Mars. He takes a seat on the steps outside the church as the first few notes begin to play. He pulls out his notebook to distract himself while he waits.

As Landon turns his back, Hector and Maria are still standing by the door. One is holding heavy metal chains and the other a padlock. After a moment of watching Landon, they secure the chains around the door handles and lock them with a solid click. As soon as Hector and Maria are done locking the doors, they return to Rafael and the priest, the latter of who has begun the rites of an exorcism. The foster parents move quickly to pin down Rafael as he begins to realize what is happening.

“What the hell are you doing?” Rafael says as he resists. But then his body begins to contort and he lets out a scream of pain.

Outside the church, a van comes to a sharp stop in front of Landon, and a beautiful, and somehow familiar, girl steps out. Landon pulls out a headphone as she approaches and opens his mouth to say something, but realizes he has no idea what to say. What do you say to the breathtakingly beautiful girl that you hung out with a few times before you moved away, who has inexplicably appeared in front of you outside of a church in the middle of the night? Luckily, Hope beats him to it.

“Landon?” Hope says, eyebrows furrowing in a way that Landon can’t help but think is cute.

“Hope?” Landon replies, unsure of where to begin with his questions of the situation.

Out of the driver’s seat of the car, an older man appears in front of Landon as well. He holds a duffle bag in one hand and a crossbow in the other. Landon’s brain is unable to really comprehend either.

“You two know each other?” The man asks Hope distractedly.

“Yeah,” Hope says simply, while still maintaining eye contact with Landon.

Landon really couldn’t tell if she was glad to see him or not. Her answer hadn’t really been that enthusiastic, so he is probably going to go with not.

The moment is shattered by Rafael’s scream from inside the church and the sound of glass breaking.

“Dr. Saltzman.” Hope prompts the older man.

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Dr. Saltzman replies before rushing up the steps and pushing on the doors. The doors rattle, but refuse to open. Dr. Saltzman looks back at Hope expectantly before taking a taking a step back from the doors.

“_Dissera_ _Portus_.” Hope chants and with a swift movement of her hands the doors burst open. Hope turns to Landon as she approaches the doors. “You’re going to want to stay out here, Landon, trust me.”

Landon isn’t even sure he registers Hope’s words. And maybe that’s why Landon follows the two inside the church almost immediately, despite the obvious directions, but can you blame him? Landon was barely able to wrap his head around simply seeing the girl he had a crush on a few months ago, much less that she can now open doors with her mind. But there is still one clear thought the sea of confusion that is Landon’s mind: He needs to know if Raf is okay. 

Hope and Dr. Saltzman rush inside, with Landon relatively close behind, to find Rafael being shouted at by the priest as he writhes in pain, his body deforming.

“Shut down the exorcist,” Dr. Saltzman instructs to Hope.

Hope follows through with another series of gestures and foreign words. One phrase erases the mouth of the priest, leaving only smooth skin behind in its place. The other sends the priest, Hector, and Maria to the floor, unconscious.

Dr. Saltzman continues forward into the church, moving deliberately and smoothly, as if they had done this a thousand times before. He sets up posts in the floor and hands Hope a set of chains.

As they work, Rafael’s body continues to contort more grotesquely as his bones break and are reassembled in a new shape. From further back in the church Landon witnesses his brother being mutilated by unknown forces as he writhes in pain.

“Holy shit!” Landon hisses as he takes an instinctive step backward, stumbling into a pew. His eyes are wide and he might’ve forgotten how to breath as he watches Raf’s limbs extend far beyond their normal length.

As Raf’s transformation comes to a head, Hope and Dr. Saltzman attach the chains around his contorted form. They step back out of the now limited reach of what used to be Rafael and is now a very large, black wolf. It jumps and snaps at them, and strains against the chains, snarling as it realizes that it cannot reach its prey.

Landon’s horrified gaze flicks between the monster that used to be his foster brother and the seemingly unfazed faces of those who have chained him up.

“Hope, make sure we didn’t attract any attention outside and close the doors up,” Dr. Salzman instructs. “I’ll take our priest and the others to a back room somewhere where they can sleep off the spell.”

Hope nods wordlessly and heads toward the doors, passing a very confused and scared Landon on the way. Landon watches her pass him, mouth opening and closing in an attempt to ask a question that never succeeds. Once Hope has walked away from him, he stares at the black wolf chained several feet away from him. It snarls and snaps at him, a viciousness in its movements that sends a chill down Landon’s spine. After a moment, he hurries after Hope

Landon reaches Hope as she is peering outside the wide open doors at the silent night that is undisturbed by whatever was going on inside the church. Landon stands nearby, hands shoved forcefully in his pockets and shoulders hunched, as Hope closes the church doors and removes the broken chains from the handles. Only when she places the chains on the floor and turns away from her completed task does Landon say anything.

“Hope, what the hell is going on?” Landon snaps, his voice coming out much harsher than he meant it to be, but at this point he was just surprised he was able to say anything at all.

Hope’s eyes flick to meet Landon’s immediately, something kind and a little pitying in her gaze. Her eyes skim over his body as she prepares what to say. She notices his hands digging nervously in his pockets, probably peeling all of the lint out and tugging at the exposed strings. She notices his wide, red rimmed eyes, meaning he probably hadn’t slept in a good while. She notices the way he is breathing, short and quick, and the way he is chewing rather hard on the inside of his cheek.

“Landon,” Hope says, as gently as she can, “it’s okay.” She takes a step forward and reaches a hand out to his shoulder to try to comfort him, but he flinches away on reflex. Hope forces herself to not feel rejected by the action, reminding herself that she doesn’t actually know Landon that well and that he is clearly very stressed.

“Is it? Is it, Hope?” Landon snaps, his tone growing more panicked. “Just tell me what the hell just happened! Where the hell is Raf?”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Raf is fine. He’s okay. He just looks a little different right now. He will look like his old self by morning, I promise.” Hope says calmly.

Landon seems to believe her, because his shoulders relax just slightly and his breathing stops getting exponentially quicker. He seems to want to say something more, but all he can manage is a pleading look as he stares into Hope’s eyes. She can see the tears in his eyes, so close to spilling over.

“I promise.” Hope repeats with more force, before taking a hesitant step closer. “It’s going to be okay, Landon. Do you want to sit down?”

Landon gives a slight nod before stumbling into a pew. His head is getting fuzzy from hyperventilating which is making it even harder to think straight. He can taste blood from where he has bitten too hard on the inside of his cheek. The tears are spilling onto his face now and his chest is heaving from the crying, making it even harder to breath.

Hope crouches down next to him and begins to talk to him in a soft voice. She recounts to him the only thing she learned from the few weeks of counseling sessions Dr. Saltzman had forced her to go to with the school counselor. It involves pretending to be on a boat and breathing in as the boat goes up a wave and out as it goes down the wave. It really is all Hope has to offer, other than a harsh sedative that Dr. Saltzman has in his kit. Either way, the exercise seemed to help him at least a little bit.

Landon continues to do the breathing exercise after he has stopped hyperventilating, eyes closed and lips parted slightly to let breath in and out. Hope continues to reassure him and has to stop herself from reaching out to touch him, knowing that this won’t help him even if she feels it will. After a moment, Hope realizes that the chained wolf has chosen to lie down and rest at some point, as there is no longer a scuffling of claws or a shaking of chains that causes Landon to flinch and struggle to breath again.

When Dr. Saltzman returns from somewhere in the church, Hope quickly catches his attention and presses a finger to her lips. He seems to understand and moves stealthily around the large wolf over to Hope. He silently gestures for Hope to come and talk to him. She hesitates for a moment, but understands that they need to decide their next course of action.

“I’ll be right back, Landon, okay?” Hope says, rising to her feet. Her concerned gaze lingers on him for a moment, long enough to see him give a weak nod. She walks over to Dr. Saltzman reluctantly.

“Is he okay?” Dr. Saltzman whispers.

“I think so, at least for now.” Hope whispers back, unable to keep her gaze from drifting back over to Landon.

“Good. We still have a few more hours left until dawn and I have a few things left to clean up. Why don’t you take him to the car and try to get him to sleep? I don’t think he should be here when his friend transforms back.”

Hope nods and walks back over to Landon. “Hey.” Hope greets softly, careful not to startle him.

Landon’s red-stained eyes open at the sound of her voice. “Hey.” He says, his voice weak but relatively steady.

“You look pretty tired, Landon. Maybe you should try and get some sleep?”

Landon gives a sleepy nod and tips his head back against the pew, which left his neck at an almost 90 degree angle from his body.

Hope can’t stop herself from smiling at how cute he looks trying to sleep in one of the world’s most uncomfortable positions. “Or if you don’t want to mess up your spine, we have a car outside with seats that can tip back.”

Landon furrows his brow. “I can’t leave Raf.” Landon says sternly, despite the exhaustion laced in his voice.

“Landon, he’s going to be okay. Once the sun starts to rise he will be his old self again and then he’ll be right next to you.”

“Hope, I can’t leave him. I have to be sure he’s okay.” Landon appears to be mustering all the energy he has to argue with Hope, which makes her feel bad about arguing with him.

“Okay, let me make you a deal. You go and get some sleep in the van, and, I promise, when you wake up, Rafael will be there next to you.”

Landon opens his mouth to protest, but Hope cuts him off.

“And if anything happens that we don’t expect, big or small, good or bad, I will wake you up immediately. Okay?”

Landon’s eyelids had fallen half closed over his eyes as Hope had spoken. Whether he actually had been listening or not didn’t seem to matter as he gives a tired nod and lifts himself to his feet. Hope moves closer to him in case he wants to lean on her, although he doesn’t, instead keeping his arms tucked tightly into his sides. She leads him to the van and into the back seat and helps him get comfortable. Hope is pretty sure he is asleep before she closes the door, and she can’t blame him after everything he’s been through tonight.

Hope goes back inside to help Dr. Saltzman clean up. She waits with him until dawn. He doesn’t ask about how she knows Landon yet, which she is grateful for. Once the sun peeks over the horizon, they watch Rafael shrink back down into a teenage boy. Hope helps Dr. Saltzman load Rafael into the van, right next to Landon, and the rest of the gear they brought into the trunk. Then they begin the long drive back to the school.


	2. The Morning Of

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael turns to Landon. “I turned into a wolf last night?”  
“Yeah, dude, you did,” Landon says.  
"Woah,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2!!!  
In case you couldn't tell, it will be quite a while before we hit the second episode.  
Also, I know I said I'd update weekly, (which I'm still planning on), I just got impatient.  
Message me on Tumblr (@werederg) to say hi, or if you want to rant about the new episodes. I'd love to hear it.

It’s about 7 in the morning when Landon stirs from his sleep, when they are about 20 minutes away from the school. He wakes with a jolt, not realizing where he is. He looks around frantically for a moment, before his eyes land on Rafael still passed out in the seat next to him. With having only one question out of the million in his head answered, Landon’s body manages to relax. Then Landon turns his head to look around more and his eyes immediately find Hope’s.

Hope’s head is turned to face Landon from where she sits in the passenger seat. Landon can’t help but think she looks like an angel, bathed in the morning sun, eyes shining with the reflection of its golden light. Landon thinks there’s worry in her eyes as she stares at him for a moment.  _ Probably just worried I will freak out again _ , he tells himself.

“He’s awake, Dr. Saltzman.” Hope says it like Landon isn’t there, despite the fact that she doesn’t break eye contact with him while she does.

“Where are we going?” Landon blurts out abruptly before he can think better of it. He’s embarrassed by how shaky his voice sounds and winces a little as soon as it reaches his ears. His hands dig into his pockets reflexively.

“Somewhere safe, Landon.” Dr. Saltzman answers from the driver’s seat, his voice rough and tired from lack of sleep. “It’s a school that I run in Mystic Falls, but we’ll talk more about it once we get there, so that Rafael can be awake for it as well.”

Landon immediately looks to Hope, as if to be certain that these things are true.

“Everything will start to make sense once we get there, Landon.” Hope says comfortingly.

This seems to be enough for Landon, at least for the time being. He breaths out a slow breath and slouches back into his seat. Hope glances back and thinks she can see him counting the breath in his head. He turns his head to look at the scenery that passes by and Hope wonders what is going on inside his head.

“By the way, how do you two know each other?” Dr. Saltzman asks, amiably trying to fill the silence.

“He used to work at the Mystic Grill.” Hope answers, referencing the local restaurant in the small town where the school resided.

“You were always there during my shift and you always ordered the same thing. Or, I don’t know if you came when I wasn’t working, because I wasn’t there, obviously, but…” Landon manages to cut off his nervous rambling, mostly because his throat is getting tight which thankfully made it difficult to keep digging himself deeper. He squeezes his eyes shut to avoid having to see Hope’s reaction.

“Yeah.” Hope says noncommittally, not wanting to admit she had thought he was cute and that was why she had kept coming back during his hours and hanging out until the end of his shift. Still, Hope couldn’t stop the soft smile that came onto her face as she remembered how she would stay and talk with Landon about little things while he cleaned up for the night.

“But then I moved away.” Landon adds.

“Yes, and I don’t think the Mystic Grill has, or ever will recover from such a monumental loss of service.” Hope says in a sarcastic tone that could easily be mistaken for serious.

Landon lets out a small laugh and smiles a little at the back of Hope’s head. He really hopes that was supposed to be a joke.

The car falls back into silence, until they reach the long drive of a massive private school. The closer they get to the main building, the more tense Landon feels. He can see students milling around outside and around various buildings, reminding him of every school he had ever been the new kid in.

“Landon, can you wake Rafael up?” Dr. Saltzman asks as he tries not to hit a student who is not watching where they are going.

Landon scoots closer to Rafael and speaks in a soft but firm voice. “Raf. Raf, buddy, wake up.” Landon taps him lightly on the chest and his eyes begin to flutter open.

“Wha--, Landon?” Rafael says, voice slurred from sleep. “Where are we?” His eyes widen at the world outside with its large extravagant architecture and unfamiliar people.

“I’m not sure, man, but I think we’re about to find out.” Landon answers, vaguely gesturing at Dr. Saltzman, who has turned around the address them.

“Morning, Rafael. My name is Dr. Saltzman. I know a lot has happened in the last 12 or so hours, but I promise that everything will make sense in a few minutes. We’re going to take the two of you up to my office so I can explain what’s going on. Hope will take you there now and I will follow right after I do one thing, okay?” Dr. Saltzman says, trying to appear as if he was not in desperate need of a nap.

Hope turns around in her seat and gives Rafael a polite, if a bit awkward, wave in greeting. Rafael looks suspiciously from Hope to Dr. Saltzman, unsure if he should trust them. Then he turns to Landon with a questioning look, who gives a shrug that seems to indicate that it doesn’t appear as if they really have much choice. Rafael takes this as his final verdict and cooperates with Dr. Saltzman’s instructions. The three of them exit the car.

“It’s just this way.” Hope says, starting to walk into a building. The two boys follow closely behind her without a word. Their eyes constantly wander over their new surroundings.

Dr. Saltzman gets out of the van, leans heavily against the side and heaves a sigh before locking it. He straightens up and begins to scan the assorted students for his daughters. Usually they came to meet him when he finally returned home from a night errand. Perhaps they were finally getting sick of his long nights and had decided not to meet him in protest. This trip had been the third in two weeks that had kept him away from them all night and into the next morning.

“Dad!” Two familiar bright voices call from behind Dr. Saltzman.

Dr. Saltzman turns to see his two beautiful daughters rushing towards him. Lizzie has her arms wrapped around him before he can even get a word out. Dr. Saltzman dislodges one arm from the hug to draw his other daughter, Josie, to his side as well. After a moment they part, Lizzie stepping back to smooth down any new wrinkles in her outfit and Josie furrowing her brow at the empty van behind him.

“Morning, girls. I trust that the two of you went to bed on time in my absence.” Dr. Saltzman jokes.

“More or less.” Lizzie says slyly.

“Hey, dad, did the mission go okay?” Josie asks, eyes flicking to the lack of a new student waiting.

Dr. Salzman can’t help but smile at his daughters’ antics, Lizzie with her playful defiance and Josie with her seemingly perpetual state of concern. “Yes, it went fine, Josie. There is nothing to worry about. I sent them upstairs to my office with Hope already.”

Lizzie raises her eyebrow comically high. “Them?” 

“Is there more than one, dad?” Josie continues her twin’s question.

Dr. Saltzman winces. “Sorry to disappoint, girls, but it’s just one new student. His foster brother was there when he turned and we had to bring him back so we could compel him.” Dr. Saltzman says, regretful that he has to dispel the excitement in his daughters’ eyes. “Speaking of which, I should really get up there. I’ll let you know when you have to give the tour. Have a good day, girls.” Dr. Saltzman gives each a kiss on the cheek and tries to ignore their disappointed faces.

When Dr. Saltzman enters his office, he finds Landon and Rafael sitting in the two chairs in front of his desk and Hope standing by the door. Landon has his hands fidgeting in his pockets. Rafael is leaning forward in his chair, elbows on his knees. The room is awkwardly silent.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Dr. Saltzman says as he takes a seat at his desk.

“What did you keep us waiting for?” Rafael says indignantly. His eyes meet Dr. Saltzman’s in a challenge of sorts.

Dr. Saltzman freezes for a second, his guilty concious answering the question for him. “I had to say good morning to my daughters. I did sort of abandon them for the night to come and find you, so I thought they at least deserved that.” He says, trying to gloss over his own guilt with a joking tone.

Rafael seems to think this is a reasonable response, as his gaze falls from the challenge and he relaxes a little.

“Alright, so, now that we have my questionable parenting out of the way. I would love to begin explaining what is happening for you, boys. I believe I already introduced myself, but not my school. This is the Salvatore school and I am the headmaster here,” Dr. Saltzman says, a kind smile on his face, one that was slightly wilted from his lack of sleep. “To start, Landon, you lived in Mystic Falls for a bit. Did you learn anything about our little school while you lived here?”

Landon starts at being addressed directly, having been staring at the floor before, half-listening “Um, I knew Hope went here and the locals said it was a school for troubled rich kids.” Landon stumbles over his words.

“I can see the rich part is true.” Rafael says, poorly veiled contempt in his voice as he scrutinizes his surroundings.

Dr. Saltzman lets out a brief laugh. “I appreciate the observation, but actually, the majority of our funding comes from a few legacy students with generous families who believe in what we do. So the majority of our students are not wealthy and pay a relatively nominal fee based on income. But, I’m getting off topic, I’m sure you have more pressing questions than where our revenue comes from, so I will just begin.

“I used to have a long winded speech prepared, but pop culture has actually done a lot of the groundwork for me in explaining this to you. I’m sure you are familiar with harry potter, twilight maybe?”

“Yeah,” Raf scoffs at the seemingly off topic question.

“Despite being mostly wrong on the details, some of the creatures in those stories are real. I’m referring to witches, werewolves, and vampires. That being said, our school is a hogwarts of sorts, although we house werewolves and vampires as well as witches. Our goal here is to find young or new supernaturals and house them here so we can teach them about themselves and how to control their abilities.

“And that’s why you’re here, Rafael. I don’t know how much you remember, but you turned for the first time last night.”

“Turned into what?” Raf says, sounding on edge. There is anger in his eyes, something in his mind fighting against what he is being told.

“A wolf, Rafael. A curse was triggered inside your blood so that during every full moon you will turn into a wolf.”

Rafael turns to Landon. “I turned into a wolf last night?” Raf asks, needing more than the words of strangers to convince him.

“Yeah, dude, you did.” Landon says, a disbelieving look in his eyes.

“Woah.” Rafael breaths out, the anger in his eyes finally fading away.

“Leading into my next point, I actually have a question for you, Rafael. Have you been involved in any accidents or lost anyone recently?” Dr. Saltzman says gently, knowing exactly what it is he is asking.

The whole tone of the room shifts. Rafael’s gaze darkens and drifts far away for a moment, looking at something that isn’t there. Landon tenses in his seat a little, glancing worriedly over at his brother. Hope even tenses by the door, understanding the weight of the question.

“Yeah, actually, about a month ago, I lost my girlfriend, Cassie.” Raf struggles to get the words out, eyes shining. Landon reaches over and lays a hand on his brother’s shoulder in comfort. 

“I’m so sorry, Rafael.” Dr. Saltzman consoles, “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?”

“We were driving in a storm and I, uh, took a turn to fast.” Rafael mumbles softly, shaking his head sadly at his mistake. “We got into an accident and she didn’t make it.”

Dr. Saltzman nods understandingly before continuing in a solemn, careful tone, “It’s terrible that you had to go through that, Rafael. Unfortunately, that event is likely what triggered your werewolf curse. The curse lies dormant until the person, intentionally or unintentionally, takes another human’s life. Although I’m sure that comes as no comfort to you.”

“Yeah, you sure as hell’d be right about that.” Raf snaps and swallows hard, trying to push down the lump of grief in his throat.

“I’m sorry for having to bring that up. If you are ever in need of someone to talk to, the school has an excellent counselor.”

Rafael’s eyes flick up from the spot on the floor he had been staring at. “Who says I’m going to your school?”

“No one, Rafael, this is entirely your choice. However, please understand that this is a safe place for people like you, where you can learn to use your abilities and meet other people like you. If you are worried about the cost, there will be no cost for you, given your situation.”

Rafael scoffs, “You’d really just let me walk out of here?”

“As much as I would discourage it, I couldn’t stop you. I’d probably break a few bones trying to. But I want you to understand that this place can be your home, if you want it to be.” Dr. Saltzman waits a moment and when he is met with silence of a deeply in thought teenager, he continues. “I’ll give you some time to think on that, Rafael. In the meantime, perhaps you would benefit from a tour of the school, so you have a full picture of what you’d be agreeing to. I’ll call my daughters down to give you a tour, they will meet you downstairs. Any questions you have left, you can ask them, as well.” 

Dr. Saltzman picks up the landline phone on his desk and calls the teacher of the class he knows they are in and tells the instructor to send them down.

“Well, alright then, they should be here soon. Rafael, you can wait downstairs if you like. Hope can show you back down.” Dr. Saltzman says, smiling, glad to have at least one of his tasks for the day done.

“That’s fine, I remember the way.” Rafael says, getting up and heading for the door. Landon gets up immediately to follow him. Dr. Saltzman freezes and stares at Landon for a moment, blinking, as if he just remembered he was there.

“Oh, wait.” Dr. Saltzman calls once he has broken out of his trance. “Landon, can you stay here for a moment?”

“Why?” Rafael says, turning around instantly, hostility edging his voice.

“We just have to ask him a few more questions. He’ll be here when you get back.”

Landon freezes in the middle of the room, turning to look uncertainly at Rafael. Landon looks anxious at the prospect of being separated from Rafael and Rafael looks angry at the idea that he would even consider leaving Landon with people he didn’t trust. That’s when Hope steps out of the woodwork.

“He’ll be fine here, Rafael. This a safe place. Dr. Saltzman is just going to ask him a few questions and make sure we’ve answered his questions. Then we’ll have him wait out your tour in a lounge area or something and you can come see him as soon as you are done, okay? We won’t let anything happen to him.” Hope explains, understanding Raf’s protectiveness of Landon.

Rafael casts a questioning look at Landon, making sure he is okay with the plan.

“It’s okay, man. I got it. Have fun on your tour.” Landon says, trying to sound casual and relaxed.

Rafael nods and hesitating one last time in the doorway before heading out.

“We really do appreciate your cooperation, Landon. You can have a seat again if you’d like.” Dr. Saltzman says, sounding much less prepared for this conversation than the previous.

“I’m good, thanks.” Landon says, looking much more tense now that he was separated from his brother. His hood is pulled over his head, hands deep in the pockets. “What questions do you have for me?”

“Well, um, actually…” Dr. Saltzman struggles to find words to explain what happens next or any actual questions he could ask him that would be helpful.

Hope, looking uncomfortable in the corner by the door, interrupts him,”Dr. Saltzman, I should get to class.” She edged toward the door.

“Wait, don’t go, please.” Landon says suddenly “Sorry, I’m sure you’ve got lots of better things to be doing than hanging out with me, but I still haven’t wrapped my head around all this, and you are the only person I know other than Raf, and--”

“Okay.” Hope cuts him off, walking back into the room more. She winces at the fear in Landon’s eyes. She wants to apologise for taking away one of the only people he trusts in the world, temporarily and possibly permanently. She wants to apologise because she feels like she’s lying to him by just standing there. She wants to tell him that everything will be okay, even if she knows it’s probably not true. So she does. 

“Everything’s going to be okay, Landon. I promise.” Hope says, as sweet as artificial sugar.

Then the door opens and a young, well dressed boy walks in.

“Oh, Landon, I’d like you to meet Milton Greasely.” Dr. Saltzman says, gesturing to the boy who just walked in. 

“Um, Dr. Saltzman.” The boy says, giving Dr. Saltzman an expectant, and a little exasperated, look.

It takes only a second for the mistake to dawn on Dr. Saltzman. “Oh, sorry, MG.” He says, emphasising the alternative name as if forcing himself to remember it. “My mistake, Landon, this is MG.”

“Oh, okay.” Landon says, staring blankly at the new stranger that has just entered his life for no discernible reason.

“MG is my student aid, so he’s just going to ask the last few questions, okay?” Dr. Saltzman says.

MG approaches Landon, who gives him a distrustful look. MG reaches out a hand toward Landon’s shoulder, but retracts it quickly when Landon flinches away from the touch. MG gives an apologetic look, but doesn’t say anything until he is uncomfortably close to Landon and staring into his eyes.

“Forget everything you’ve seen or learned since last night. All that you need to know is that your friend has found a home where he can live a better life. You’ll miss him, but you know it’s for the best.” MG speaks in an intense and deliberate tone that feels powerful in a way Landon can’t quite place. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Landon says, panic invading his voice. He steps quickly away from MG and looks around at Hope and Dr. Saltzman in confusion, only to find similarly confused eyes staring back at him.

“MG, did you do it wrong?” Dr. Saltzman asks after a beat, his brow furrowed deeply on his face.

“It’s kind of hard to mess up, Dr. S.” MG answers, looking equally baffled.

“What is going on right now?” Landon says intensely, his panic clearly spiking, as he backs further away from MG into the corner of the room.

“Hope.” Dr. Saltzman indicates, trusting that the girl knows exactly what to do.

“Right.” Hope nods before muttering a short sleep spell. The last thing she sees is the look of betrayal in Landon’s eyes before they fall closed and he collapses. MG rushes forward to catch him as he falls and eases him into a chair for now.

“This is not good.” Dr. Saltzman says, worried eyes locked on Landon’s limp body. “You two take him to the cellar. Have someone there to watch him and make sure I’m notified as soon as he wakes up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did any of you guys notice that in the actual episode, MG just like straight up strangles Landon until he passes out. I thought that was weird.  
Anyways, let me know what you thought about Chapter 2!


	3. School Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Welcome to the Salvatore School!” the blonde girl says brightly once they reach him. “We’re your tour guides.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Worldbuilding and the first scene with Penelope.  
Please ignore my terrible chapter titles, I spent very little time on them.  
Tumblr: @werederg

Rafael only waits about a minute outside the doors of the building before he sees two cheerful girls bound their way towards him. Their bright, causal smiles stand in stark contrast to everything that Rafael has gone through since the previous night, and he’s not sure if it makes him feel better or worse.  
“Welcome to the Salvatore School!” the blonde girl says brightly once they reach him. “We’re your tour guides.”  
“I’m Josie.” The brunette introduces herself.  
“And I’m Lizzie.” The blonde one says.  
“We’re sisters, in case you couldn’t tell. Twins.” Josie continues.  
“Fraternal, obviously.” Lizzie points out.  
“Hi.” Rafael manages an awkward wave as he looks from one girl to the other.  
The girls looked at him expectantly for a moment.  
“Oh, I’m Rafael.”  
“It’s nice to meet you, Rafael.” Josie says, offering a sweet smile.  
“Oh, and if you could tell us what type of supernatural creature you are. Dad forgot to mention it.” Lizzie rolled her eyes at the ineptitude of her father.  
“Werewolf.” The word sounds foreign on his tongue.  
Josie nods, considering the answer. “Makes sense based on how long Dad was out last night.”  
Lizzie nods in agreement. “Well, then we make sure to point out all the werewolf specific things on the tour. And Rafael, if you have any questions, just ask.”  
“Don’t worry about interrupting us.” Josie adds.  
“Also, if you tell us a little more about yourself, we can personalize the tour more, so don’t be shy.” Lizzie says coyly, hooking her arm into Rafael’s without asking.  
He looks a little startled, but goes with it.  
“Shall we.” Josie prompts, mirroring her sister by threading her own arm with Rafael’s unoccupied one.  
“You guys are a lot friendlier than my last school.” Rafael says wryly, trying to ignore how weird this all felt. Everything about this school made Rafael feel like he had taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in a place he didn’t belong. Not to mention, how little he felt like he understood the whole supernatural thing.  
“We can only imagine.” Lizzie says, with a comical raising of her eyebrows.  
They walk into the main square of the school’s courtyard. The school’s many paved walkways are mostly empty, as class is currently in session. It is easy to see how large the school is without the students to fill up the space. It feels strange and alien without any life occupying it.  
“So that back there was the main administrative building on campus. The average student has probably only been in there like twice. It mostly has Dad’s office, the assistant principals’ offices, maintenance staff offices and supernatural free areas for human visitors.” Josie explains, gesturing back toward the building they just left.  
“And this first building coming up is the main secondary school building. Almost all of our classes are in there, plus our dining hall.” Lizzie continues.  
Raf stops abruptly in his step, dragging the twins to a halt with him. He shakes arms out of the girls’ and takes a step back, just to get a little space. He ran his hands over his face for a moment, ignoring the slightly offended and concerned expressions staring at him.  
“I’m sorry, I just...I need a minute.” Rafael says, pausing to take a breath. “I actually have a few questions, if you wouldn’t mind.”  
“Of course, we’ll answer any questions you have,” Lizzie says, blue eyes wide and attentive as they focused on Raf.  
“As best we can, at least.” Josie adds.  
“I just-- what is all this? Being a werewolf, what does that even mean?” Rafael says, “I mean, I know what a werewolf is, obviously, but what does that mean?”  
Josie and Lizzie share a look, silently deciding the best way to answer the boy’s question.  
“Well, werewolves are given superhuman strength, speed and coordination by the werewolf curse, which you would be taught to harness here.” Lizzie explains.  
“But, every month during the full moon, werewolves revert to their wolf forms, which is extremely dangerous. Here at school we have holding cells that students go into during the full moon. All werewolves have to make sure they make it to a cell before the full moon, otherwise they can really hurt someone.” Josie continued.  
“That explains how I threw a 200lb lawnmower across my foster parent’s lawn.” Rafael says absentmindedly.  
“Along with those things, the werewolf curse once triggered can create an increase in aggression and an excess of physical energy, which often leads to behavioral problems if not addressed.” Lizzie responds with an understanding tone.  
Rafael nods in understanding, remembering the increase in his behavioral problems after Cassie died. “Okay, that makes sense, I guess. Thanks.” Rafael says, visibly relaxing.  
“Of course, Rafael.” Lizzie says, shaking her head at his need to thank them for doing their jobs.  
“Are you okay to continue with the tour?” Josie asks.  
“Yeah, you were talking about the dining hall.” Raf prompts, humoring the enthusiasm of his tour guides.  
“Oh yes, you will love the food! It’s amazing!” Lizzie praises enthusiastically.  
They make their way into the main high school building. Lizzie and Josie show Rafael the dining hall first, pointing out the many options and the lack of a meal limit, which was very beneficial for werewolves due to their high metabolism. Then they move into the classroom halls just in time to see the end of a passing period, as all the students quickly file into their classrooms at the last second before the late bell.  
“Most of the students at Salvatore get along with each other. We strive for a friendly supportive environment that fosters growth, both personal and school wide.” Josie says, the phrase sounding practiced.  
“The wolves tend to be more cliquey, generally hanging out with their own pack most of the time.” Lizzie says, a little bit of contempt at the practice coming through in her voice.  
“As witches ourselves, we like to provide tours for all types of new supernaturals in order to prevent a sense of sectionalism within the school.” Josie continues as they walk down the hall.  
Rafael blinks at her for a moment, unfamiliar with the term.  
“What my all-too-brainy sister is trying to say is we don’t want you to forget about the other two thirds of the school once you meet your packmates.” Lizzie interjects. “This whole school is a community you can rely on.”  
The girls stop the tour in front of an open classroom door. They stand off to the side to avoid disrupting the lesson that is clearly going on inside, but a few students still turn to see who is at the door. At the head of the classroom, in front of a chalkboard, stands a tall pale man in a light purple button down shirt and khakis. The man also happened to be completely bald and missing his eyebrows and eyelashes for some god awful reason.  
“This is an example of one of the witch based classes. This one is Chemistry of Magic with Mr. Wormwood.” Josie explains, and before Raf could even ask, she continues,”Last week, Mr. Wormwood accidently incinerated himself in hellfire.”  
“As you can see he is perfectly fine, unless you count the fact that he burned all of the hair off his body.” Lizzie finishes, shuddering at the thought. They peer in for several moments longer, long enough to hear a snippet of the lesson going on.  
“Alright class, time to start the most universally hated and loved unit all year.” Mr. Wormwood smiles devilishly at the groans his class makes. “That’s right, it’s composition of spells time! This unit will be all about figuring out what is going on the particle level whenever you cast a spell and how different types of casting can change that chemical behavior. And I’m sure you all know the best way we can do that!” Another loud groan. “You better believe it’s stink spells!” The hairless man says with baffling enthusiasm. “Penelope, if you could give us something to work with, please.”  
“But, oh, I wonder why you can’t do it, Mr. Wormwood.” Penelope says, voice lilting with false innocence.  
The teacher grimaces with a strange crossing of his hairless brow.  
“It couldn’t possibly be because the assistant principal banned you from doing spells for 3 weeks after you accidently made yourself into a naked mole rat with hellfire, could it?” Penelope says with a smirk and feigned sympathy in her expression.  
The class bursts out laughing from the girl’s callout of their eccentric teacher. He sighs, laughs a little himself, and then attempts to refocus their attention once more.  
“She who shall not be named.” Lizzie murmurs while glaring at Penelope.  
Rafael pokes his head out further around the door to get a better look at the girl Lizzie is talking about. She has dark hair and dark eyes and manages to look effortlessly good in the school’s uniform. Maybe it’s the piercing in the girl’s nose or the way she turns smoothly to make direct eye contact with Josie before throwing her a suggestive wink, but she reminds Raf of someone from his old school. The only girl who never got caught for smoking weed under the bleachers. The girl who would flirt openly with other girls at parties he went to. The girl who never really looked like she was afraid of anything.  
“Talking about her, gives her power.” Josie responds grimly to her sister, never actually tearing her eyes away from Penelope.  
“What are you guys talking about?” Raf says.  
“That’s Josie’s evil ex.” Lizzie explains, venom in her tone. “Come on, let’s get out of here before that spell stinks up this entire floor.”  
The twins guide Rafael away from the class just as the smell starts to hit. He can vaguely hear the teacher begins to pontificate about the smell from behind him. As they quickly exit the building, Rafael can feel his questions begin to pile up, things like: how can someone be incinerated without hurting themselves and what happened between Josie and her ex? Raf decides not to ask his questions, deciding that they weren’t really that relevant or that they were too personal to ask. While thinking about that, however, his mind drifts off and he begins to worry about Landon, wondering how he is doing and if he is okay, so much so, that he has trouble focusing on what his tour guides are saying. He follows Lizzie and Josie absentmindedly as they lead him to a soccer field.  
Raf only notices that he has been led to a soccer field when they are half way down one side, looking for a place to sit in the bleachers.  
“Wait, you guys play soccer?” Raf asks, suddenly coming back to reality.  
“Yup, the team is scrimaging right now, but they have a cross school game next week Thursday with the Tonyville Tigers.” Lizzie says, sounding excited about the sporting event.  
“Students are free to come and watch practices during free periods, which many do.” Josie adds, motioning toward the mostly full bleachers of students who were spectating the game.  
“Huh, I thought you guys would play, like, I don’t know, quidditch or something.” Raf says.  
The twins laugh at his assumption.  
“Well, we’ve definitely tried, but unfortunately flying on a broom is not only extremely dangerous and easy to fall off of, but maneuvering a broom fluidly in the air is also like, super hard for any witch.” Lizzie explains.  
“Oh, here are some good seats.” Josie points out a few in the second row. “I actually saw MG on our way over, so I’m going to go say hi to him for a bit. I’ll be back.” Josie turns and heads over to where she spotted her friend.  
Josie finds MG a few rows away close to the back of the bleachers. His eyes are on the game, but he looks like he is thinking about something else. MG doesn’t notice Josie approach and sit down next to him until she says his name.  
“Hey, MG.” Josie says, a slight crease appearing in her brow when MG is startled by her voice. “Are you okay?”  
“Huh, yeah.” MG says absentmindedly before his gaze finally refocuses on Josie. “Sorry, just a little distracted.”  
“Yeah, I noticed. What’s going on?”  
“I was with your dad this morning to compel that human guy, Landon, who was brought in with the new kid, and things didn’t go so smoothly.” MG explains, a distressed look on his face.  
“What do you mean?”  
“I mean, he wasn’t compelled, like at all, and Dr. Saltzman has no idea how that could happen.”  
“Well, wouldn’t that mean he’s supernatural in some way?”  
“That would be the first option, but Landon’s not supernatural in any way we can figure out right now, especially considering Hope had to do a sleep spell on him because he kinda freaked out when I tried to compel him. Hope’s waiting for him to wake up right now.”  
“That’s really weird.”  
“Yeah, I’ve never heard of any vampire not being able to compel someone.” MG says, voice growing a little high and tight. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.  
Josie notices the signs of his discomfort immediately. “MG, you know this has nothing to do with how good of a vampire you are, right?” Josie scolds him gently. “It’s just a weird coincidence.”  
“I know, I know. Still, it doesn’t do much good for my confidence.” MG sighs and turns back to the soccer game to distract himself from his own self-doubt.  
Josie slings an arm around MG’s shoulders and gives him a comforting little squeeze. She, too, refocuses on the game for a bit, the action picking up as one team comes close to the other’s goal. A loud cheer erupts from the crowd as the ball hits the net.  
“So, now that we’re done talking about my fragile ego, what’s the new kid like?” MG says, once the crowd has calmed down.  
“He seems cool. His name is Rafael and he’s a werewolf. Lizzie thinks he’s pretty cute.” Josie answers.  
MG raises a questioning eyebrow. “Okay, but what do you think?”  
Josie thinks for a moment before giving a noncommittal shrug.  
MG gives a slightly exasperated laugh, as if he is used to Josie doing this. “Josie, what does that mean?”  
“It means it doesn’t matter if I think he’s cute, because Lizzie has dibs anyways.” Josie must realize how lame that reason sounds all by itself because she adds, “Plus, either way, I’m still mending a broken heart.”  
MG winces at the mention of the painful breakup. “Penelope Park.” he says, uncomfortably.  
Josie’s gaze immediately darkens at the mention of her ex-girlfriend, and MG instantly regrets saying it, even though Josie had been the one to bring it up.  
“We try not to mention her name, remember.” Josie says, quietly.  
MG hears the slight cracking in Josie’s voice and it makes his heart hurt. He nods and gives Josie an apologetic look. After a moment, his gaze finds Lizzie and Rafael sitting in the stands a few yards away. She is smiling and placing a hand on his arm. MG can’t seem to tear his eyes away from them.  
“Do you think the new guy will go for Lizzie?” MG asks, not sure he wants to know the answer.  
“Honestly, MG, I don’t know.”  
They continue to watch the game in relative silence, occasionally discussing other things like their classes or the party that was supposed to be happening that night.

“So, you said your old school was different from this one. What was it like? I’ve never been to public school, or, you know, a human school.” Lizzie asks, only a few moments after Josie goes off to find MG.  
“Oh, I mean, it was okay. We had a soccer team, like you guys. football team, too.” Rafael answers, looking a little uncomfortable from the attention.  
“That’s cool. Do you have a girlfriend?” Lizzie asks abruptly.  
“What?” Rafael looks startled by the question, almost a little horrified, but Lizzie doesn’t seem to notice.  
“I mean that I’m asking if you’re single. Obviously, you could also have a boyfriend or nonbinary partner, too. I don’t judge.” Lizzie says, an oblivious innocence in her eyes. “I’m sure lots of people are interested in knowing if you’re single or not though, myself included, obviously.”  
Lizzie gives Rafael a chance to answer, but his mouth only falls open soundlessly, utterly unsure of how to respond. After only a brief moment of silence, Lizzie continues.  
“Sorry if that came out of nowhere. I’m kind of nosy, but in, like, a charming way. Usually, I’m pretty good about it, but sometimes I just can’t help myself around guys like you.” Lizzie ducks her head and flutters her eyelashes.  
“Guys like me?” Rafael responds.  
“Yeah, you know, hot.” Lizzie says shamelessly, quickly followed by a slightly embarrassed smile and shrug.  
Rafael blinks at Lizzie for a moment. “Yeah, okay, I’m not dealing with this right now.” Rafael says with mild irritation. He gets up and goes to find Josie in the stands. Lizzie’s eyes follow him with a look of genuine confusion.  
“Hey, Josie.” Rafael says when he reaches the other twin. “I need a break from all of this. Can you take me to see Landon?”  
“Oh, sure, Rafael.” Josie says, getting up quickly before hesitating. “Um, I actually don’t know where he is right now.” Josie’s face contorts in a deeply apologetic expression.  
“Um, I do.” MG says.  
Josie’s expression brightens. “Oh good, Rafael, this is MG. He can show you where your friend is.”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rafael.” MG says. The boys share an awkward handshake with an unnecessary amount of eye contact. “Um, actually I’m not supposed to leave until the end of the period, so we can go and find Landon in like 10 minutes, if that’s okay.” MG quickly corrects himself, remembering that Landon probably hasn’t woken up yet, and Rafael might not be happy knowing what happened to his friend while he was absent.  
“Sure, I guess. I’m gonna go wait at the end of the bleachers.” Rafael says, sounding like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.  
Only a moment after Rafael has left, Lizzie appears next to her sister looking distressed.  
“Guys, I think I messed up. Did Rafael seem mad? I think he’s mad at me.” Lizzie says in a panicked flurry.  
“Lizzie, slow down.” Josie says, placing her hands on her sister’s shoulders to steady her. “What happened? Why would Rafael be mad at you?”  
“I don’t know. I was just talking to him and then he just seemed upset and walked away. Was it something I said?”  
“Well, Lizzie, what did you say to him?” MG pipes in, a concerned look on his face.  
Lizzie proceeds to recount their conversation with pretty good accuracy. By the end of it, Josie has only a slightly worried expression and MG is wincing with a deep grimace on his face.  
“That’s not that bad, Lizzie. You were kind of forward, and he’s dealing with a lot right now. He’s probably just overwhelmed.” Josie reassures her sister in a calming tone.  
“Um, actually, Josie,” MG interjects, a pained expression on his face. “Earlier this morning, when I was waiting to compel Landon, I was listening in on their conversation. And you know how every werewolf has to kill someone to trigger the curse? Well, Rafael accidently killed his girlfriend in a car accident, like a month ago.”  
MG watches as both girls’ expressions transform into ones of horror and regret, as the realization dawns on them.  
“Oh God!” Lizzie exclaims, burying her face in her hands. “How could I ask him if he was single? I’m such a terrible person! He’s going to hate me forever.”  
“Lizzie, stop, how could you have possibly known? This is not your fault.” Josie reasons for her sister. “He’s not going to hate you.”  
“At least not forever.” MG adds unhelpfully.  
“Aw!” Lizzie groans, burying her head back into her hands, having only just emerged at her sister’s words. “What am I going to do? I’m unforgivable.” Lizzie whines, voice muffled by her hands.  
“MG.” Josie scolds gently. MG gives an apologetic shrug and takes a little step back to let Josie handle it. “Lizzie, I’m sure you can fix this. Rafael will understand that you didn’t know about what happened. All you need to do is give him some space right now, and apologize later.”  
Lizzie slowly emerges from her own hands. She sniffs and blinks a few times, taking time to consider Josie’s words. “You’re right, Jo. This isn’t unfixable. I’ll apologize and he won’t even mind that I accidently brought up his dead girlfriend. I should go apologize right now.” Lizzie says, determined energy filling her voice.  
Josie grabs her sister’s wrist before she can get any farther than a step. “Um, later, Lizzie.” Josie reminds her sister.  
“Oh, right, later,” Lizzie nods in agreement.  
“So, are you guys going to the party in the woods tonight?” MG says, changing the subject as they continue to watch the soccer game.  
“Probably,” Lizzie says.  
“Probably not,” Josie says at the exact same time.  
Lizzie turns to her sister. “What? Josie, come on, you’ve got to come.”  
“I don’t like going to parties. You and our other friends always drag me along and then get distracted by someone or something else and leave me all alone. It’s not fun.” Josie explains, her voice soft, like she didn’t want to make a big deal about it.  
“Oh, come on, Josie, I promise I won’t leave you all alone,” Lizzie says. “Plus, MG will be there, too. He’ll hang out with you. Come on, it’ll be fun!” Lizzie adds this part almost as if she subconsciously knows that her promise will not be fulfilled.  
Josie sighs, “Okay, but don’t forget your promise.”  
“Of course, how could I forget my own sister?”  
Josie only rolls her eyes at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, Lizzie is one of the hardest characters to write for me. I don't think her mental illness makes sense, which is why I didn't include her "episode" in this chapter. I would love to hear what you guys think about Lizzie and her diagnosis, so please let me know!  
I think she's supposed to be bipolar in canon, but I pretty positive that the writers don't really know what bipolar is, much less any other mental illness, so I'm taking that with a grain of salt.


	4. Relocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah, okay, that’s fine, even though I didn’t understand, like, half of what you just said.” Landon stammers, arms straining against the bars in front of him. “It’s just that, I-I’m not good with small spaces, and…” He trails off into a shaky breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks! Dr. Saltzman kind of comes off like a dick in this chapter, but he's really just an overworked dumbass. Also Landon is a nervous boy who deserves better.
> 
> Tumblr: @werederg

When Landon opens his eyes, he has no idea where he is. Above him he sees gray ceiling, or possibly sky. To the sides of him he sees gray walls. Under his body he can feel a relatively uncomfortable cot supporting his weight. The air feels cold. There is a pale glow from the wall above his head.

Landon sits up urgently, eyes wide, and realizes then that he is in some sort of cell. Landon feels his chest grow tight and the air suddenly feel thin. He closes his eyes for a second and tries to take a deep breath, but it doesn’t work because he can still feel the confined space around him. He opens his eyes and searches for a way out, someone to hear him. 

He finds the cell door, barred like a prison door, and just past the door Landon can see Hope sitting on the floor outside his cell. Relief floods his body when he sees her, managing to relax him, if only a small amount. She looks like she has nodded off while waiting for him to wake up. He doesn’t want to wake her up, but he also doesn’t want to have a panic attack.

“Hope.” Landon says, trying to keep his voice steady. When she only stirs slightly, he calls to her again, louder. “Hope!” Some of his anxiety spills into his voice and it comes out panicky. Luckily, this is enough to wake Hope up.

Hope jolts awake, quickly getting to her feet. She hurries to the bars, where Landon is standing, his hands gripping two bars so tightly his knuckles are turning white.

“Landon, it’s okay.” Hope says, already having noticed Landon’s anxiety. She wants to place her hands over where his are on the bars, to ease his tension there. She doesn’t.

“Where am I? What happened?” Landon asks, even though those are not the most pressing issues on his mind. He feels the walls closing in around him and he can’t help the pathetic tone that comes out next. “Can you please let me out of here?” He begs, eyes helpless and pleading to the girl on the other side of the bars.

“It’s just for one night, Landon. You’re not a prisoner. This is just a werewolf transition space. We just need to observe you for a little bit to figure out why you weren’t able to be compelled.” Hope answers in a soothing tone.

“Yeah, okay, that’s fine, even though I didn’t understand, like, half of what you just said.” Landon stammers, arms straining against the bars in front of him. “It’s just that, I-I’m not good with small spaces, and…” He trails off into a shaky breath.

Hope’s eyes widen in realization, but her body stalls at what to do next. She really isn’t supposed to let him out. They can’t just have random unknown entities wandering around their campus and they can’t risk Landon getting out to tell anyone about the school. But how can she make him go through this when there are other options. He didn’t need to suffer and, honestly, Hope can’t stand to watch it much longer.

Hope makes her decision and disappears from view.

“Hope?” Landon calls after her, clearly distressed by her disappearance.

The locked door in front of Landon opens with a clang. Landon quickly pushes open the door, and finds Hope coming back to get him from the door control panel. Landon lets out a long exhale that is both shaky and relieved as he steps out of the cell.

Hope slowly holds a hand out to Landon, careful not to extend it into his personal space. “I can take you outside if that will help.” Hope says, practically able to feel the anxiety still coming off of him.

Landon nods quickly, and takes a sharp inhale of breath. Then he takes Hope’s hand cautiously. His hand is rough and sweaty as it fits into Hope’s strong, calloused grip.

Hope hesitates for a fraction of a second, eyes locked on their joined hands. She is genuinely surprised that he took her hand and it makes her wonder. However, she pushes away any distracting thoughts and focuses on getting Landon out of this enclosed space. She quickly leads Landon up out of the basement and through the side door of the dorm building they had been in. Landon’s hand drops from Hopes only once they have come out into the fresh, open air. Hope doesn’t like the disappointed feeling that follows, but chooses to ignore it.

“Thanks.” Landon manages between purposeful breaths. His breathing and heart rate steady after a minute or so, and when he opens his eyes, he finds Hope staring at him rather intently. “Sorry.” He apologizes reflexively.

Hope stays silent for a moment longer, before responding. “I need to talk to Dr. Saltzman to see if there is somewhere else we can put you for observation. Just wait a minute and don’t go anywhere.” Hope says tonelessly, her expression unreadable. She pulls a phone from her pocket and begins a phone call, without ever taking her eyes off Landon.

“Yes?” Dr. Saltzman’s voice speaks from the other end of the phone.

“Dr. Saltzman, we need to find a different place to house Landon for observation. He’s claustrophobic.” Hope says plainly.

“I take it, he’s awake then?”

“Yes.”

“Well, just leave him in the cell for right now. I think we have an empty office or classroom we can put him in, but I’ll need your help to secure it properly.”

“He’s already out of his cell.”

“What? Hope, you can’t just release him without checking with me first.” Dr. Saltzman scolds. “You have no idea what he is or is capable of. We can’t risk him endangering anyone on this campus by letting him wander around.”

Hope rolls her eyes. “First of all, I didn’t just let him wander around, I’ve been with him since I let him out,” Hope says, indignantly. “Secondly, what did you want me to do? Just stand there and watch him have a panic attack while I waited for you to make a decision?”

Landon ducks his head in embarrassment. He can’t help but feel shitty about all the trouble he’s causing everyone, even if these people had basically kidnapped him. He chews on the inside of his cheek while he waits for the conversation to be done.

After a long series of directions from the other end of the phone, Hope says, “Okay, I’ll bring him over.” She hangs up the phone and puts it back in her pocket.

“Sorry.” Landon mutters again, once Hope makes eye contact with him.

Hope hesitates, but decides to ignore the boy’s nervous apology. “Come with me. There’s an empty office in the Admin building we can put you in. It’s a short walk.”

Hope begins walking, always making sure that Landon is visible in her peripherals. Landon knows Hope’s staying close to him so she doesn’t lose him, but he can’t tell if it’s to protect him from the school or the school from him. He thinks it’s probably the latter. Landon finds himself dwelling on the questions he didn’t get answered earlier as they walk. Like how and why he ended up locked in a cell to begin with? But Landon doesn’t ask, not wanting to bother Hope anymore than he already has.

When Hope and Landon arrive, Dr. Saltzman is waiting for them outside of an empty office.

“Landon, my apologies for the inconvenience.” Dr. Saltzman greets. “Is this a more suitable place for you to stay while we figure out what is going on?”

Landon finds that Dr. Saltzman’s pleasantries sound extremely fake and untrustworthy considering everything that has happened in the last few hours. He casts an uncertain glance at Hope before poking his head into the empty office.

It is certainly larger than the cell he had been in before. The room is sparsely furnished with an unadorned desk and an empty bookshelf. It is painted an underwhelming shade of beige, which is still an improvement from concrete gray. It is also much more well lit than the cell, having a few windows for sun to stream through. Landon still doesn’t like the idea of being locked in this room, but it is considerably better than the alternative, so he nods in response to Dr. Saltzman’s question.

Dr. Saltzman looks relieved to have found a place to house Landon, heaving a sigh as he moves on to the next task. He has dark shades under his eyes and struggles to keep his vision focused and alert, both of which help to show how little sleep he has gotten in the past 36 hours.

“Okay then, good. Hope, set up a barrier around the room.” Dr. Saltzman instructs before turning to Landon. “Landon, while Hope is doing that, I have a few questions for you.”

Landon narrows his eyes at that, remembering quite vividly the last time he said that.

“Landon, can you step into the room fully?” Hope asks, gently, gesturing to how he has paused in the doorway. “Thank you.”

Landon pauses for a moment, taking a second to process her words, before nodding and taking a few steps back into the room. Then he turns his attention back to Dr. Saltzman. “Are you actually going to ask me questions this time?” Landon says, skeptically.

Dr. Saltzman lets out a chuckle to deflect his irritation at the boy’s question. He certainly isn’t making this any easier. “Yes. If you could tell me a little bit about your family history, like if there is anything strange or--”

“No, I can’t.” Landon answers abruptly, matching Dr. Saltzman’s irritation. “I’m a foster kid, remember? I don’t know anything about my family.”

“Right.” Dr. Saltzman sighs. “This is going to be harder than I thought. We’ll have to find some other way to determine why you can’t be compelled.” Dr. Saltzman murmurs, mostly to himself.

Off to the side, Hope chants a few phrases and makes a few gestures and the air around the doorway appears to vibrate slightly. The action draws Landon’s gaze. Despite being utterly confused by what he was witnessing, he finds himself entranced by the action, or maybe just by Hope herself.

Dr. Saltzman runs a hand over his face. “Okay, Hope, I’ll be in my office if anything happens. Check in on him occasionally, and  _ don’t let him out _ .” He emphasises the last part in a stern tone.

Hope glares at Dr. Saltzman as he exits down the hall, but rolls her eyes once he is out of sight. Then she turns to Landon, finding him still relatively entranced by her.

“Hey, how are you holding up?” Hope asks, giving Landon a soft, tired smile. Hope had gotten some sleep on the drive back to the school that morning, but it wasn’t nearly enough. As noon passes, Hope is starting to feel the exhaustion weighing on her.

“Honestly?” Landon responds, his voice mirroring Hope’s exhaustion. “I kind of feel like I’m losing my mind.”

Hope laughs softly. “Yeah, spending too much time in this world can do that to you.” She pauses, watching Landon for a moment. “I’m sorry about all of this. If you have any more questions, I can answer them.”

“Okay,” Landon answers. He clambers down to sit cross-legged on the floor and Hope joins him. “I feel like I should have figured this out by now, but what is compelling?”

Hope winces a little at the question. “Compelling is an ability that vampires have that allows them to exert a powerful suggestion over humans. Basically it means, if a vampire compels a human to do something, they will do it, and hardly even know what happened.”

“So you guys were trying to erase my memory?” Landon asks, sounding hurt.

Hope hesitates, but gives him a truthful answer. “Yes, we were, but it’s for a good reason. It’s not safe for humans to know about supernaturals. Knowing about the supernatural world would put you in danger on a daily basis, because you would be looking for things that you shouldn’t be able to see. And, if humans start finding out about us, no kid at this school would ever be safe. You know as well as I do that humans are not kind to the things they don’t understand.”

“That makes sense.” Landon agrees, but he sounds conflicted. His brow furrows in thought and he stays quiet for a long time.

Hope waits silently as Landon processes things. She feels like she can see the cogs turning in his head as he frowns down at the carpeted floor.

“This might be kind of rude, but, do you mind if I ask…” Landon trails off, struggling to phrase the question in his head. “If everyone here is supernatural, then, um, what kind of supernatural are you? If you’re okay with me asking, that is. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Landon rambles nervously.

Hope dreads that question. She stalls as she tries to think of an excuse to not have to tell him, but when she looks into Landon’s curious eyes, knowing he has no idea what he’s asking, she realizes he deserves the answer, probably more than anyone else in her life.

“It’s funny…” Hope trails off with a dry laugh, not really knowing how to begin explaining this.

Landon waits for Hope to continue, but then she doesn’t, either lost in her own thoughts or just stalling. “What’s funny?” Landon asks, innocently.

“It’s just that most people at this school know who I am long before I ever meet them.” Hope says, bitterly. 

Landon cocks his head in curiosity. He looks a bit like a puppy in that moment, waiting patiently to be given a treat or pets. The innocent look in his eyes makes it easier for Hope to keep going.

“I guess you could say that when it comes to being supernatural, I’m kind of… special.” Hope says with obvious contempt for the idea. “Most people at this school are either a vampire, a werewolf, or a witch. I’m sort of all three.”

“Woah, really.” Landon says, eyes widening in interest. “That’s pretty cool.”

Hope chuckles at how little Landon understands what that means. “Yeah, It’s kind of a big deal. I mean, my family drama is like half of the supernatural history course, so...” Hope says, rolling her eyes.

Landon nods in understanding. “Families are hard,” He says sympathetically, ”or so I’ve been told.” Landon laughs without humor at his own self-deprecating joke. The silence that follows is deafening.

“I’m sorry.” Hope says finally, unsure if there is anything else she can say.

Landon gives her a noncommittal shrug, but his eyes are sad.

“Well, hey, at least your dad isn’t the great evil of history.” Hope jokes, trying to lighten the mood.

Landon’s eyes widen in surprise. “What? You’re kidding.” He says with a disbelieving laugh. 

The smile on Landon’s face almost makes it easy for Hope to talk about her father, almost. But she doesn’t mind, as long as she can keep making him laugh and she can keep seeing the adorable way his eyes crinkle when he smiles like that. Hope even finds herself smiling with him as she recounts in vague terms all of the absurd things members of her family are known for. The whole encounter reminds Hope of the way they used to talk after closing time at the Mystic Grill, except now she didn’t have to lie to him, for at least a little bit.

After about 20 minutes, and several tangents that thankfully moved the conversation away from the Mikaelson family, Hope is interrupted by a text message.

“What is it?” Landon asks casually, his voice sounding more at ease than it had since he walked into that church the previous night.

“MG is asking if you’re still in the cellar.” Hope answers while she sends a text back. Landon frowns at the reminder of several unpleasant memories. “It looks like Rafael is done with his tour and is heading over.”

“Oh, cool.” Landon says unenthusiastically. It’s true that Landon does want to see Rafael, but he also is dreading it. As much as he doesn’t want to think about it, Landon is aware that he is going to be losing his best friend to this school and this world that he can’t be a part of.

“He’ll be here in a little bit. Just so you know, you can leave the door and windows as wide open as you want. I did a barrier spell earlier.” Hope says. She extends a hand out to where the barrier starts in demonstration, causing the air around the doorway to ripple, revealing the invisible barrier.

Landon’s heart stutters at that. Hope didn’t need to be here watching him. She could have left at any time, but she had stayed to talk and hang out with him. Landon tries to ignore the hopefulness that swells in his chest at the idea, pushing it down by telling himself Hope probably just wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to freak out again. He’s clearly not successful as shown by the words that fall out of his mouth next.

“Hey, do you remember that night we danced?” Landon asks, voice hopeful and nervous at the same time.

A slight smile appears on Hope’s lips. “Yeah, I do.” Hope says, eyes meeting Landon’s in an expression that he still can’t read.

There is a long moment of silence where neither Hope nor Landon break eye contact. Hope is the one who finally ends the moment, glancing away and getting to her feet.

“I should go. It was good to see you Landon.” Hope says, looking suddenly uncomfortable. “Rafael will be here in a little bit, and I’ll let you know when Dr. Saltzman figures out what we’re going to do next, okay?”

“Okay.” Landon says, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I never really liked Hope and Landon's relationship in the show, but the more I write it, the more I find myself getting really invested in it. I honestly don't think their relationship is sustainable in the long run because they both have a lot issues that make a romantic relationship really difficult. But I still think it is a really interesting dynamic to explore. It's also relatable as hell, because I too am in love with Hope Mikaelson.


	5. Gratuitous Flashback Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Sorry to interrupt, but I never did catch your name.” Landon said, absentmindedly wiping at the counter with a cloth.
> 
> Hope looked up and met his curious eyes. She really liked his eyes. “Hope.” She answered with a slight smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one isn't plot related at all, I just wanted to write a little bit of background and it got away from me a bit. So, I'm posting it early as a bit of a bonus chapter, I guess. Really the title says it all.

It had been a while since Landon was in Mystic Falls, working at the Mystic Grill, but Hope still remembers the time they shared very well. Somehow in the few months they had together, they had developed a consistent routine in the way they hung out. 

Hope started going to the Mystic Grill, which resembled a 50’s diner with a few bits of local memorabilia, because Dr. Saltzman was bugging her to get out of her dorm more often that summer. She decided to go to the diner because then she wouldn’t look too lonely sitting all by herself. She would usually go in the late afternoon, seeing as she rarely woke up before noon during the summer. She would order a milkshake, sit at the end of the counter in the corner, and drink it as slowly as humanly possible. She liked to watch the other people in the diner, wondering what their normal human lives were like. Sometimes she brought her sketchbook and drew while she was there.

After a few visits, the boy that worked the counter and took her order, began to recognize her.

“Oh, it’s you again, hi.” he said awkwardly from behind the counter.

Hope looked up from the spot she was staring at on the countertop, a little startled by someone talking to her. She recognized the curly black hair of the boy who often worked afternoons when she came. The name tag clipped to his shirt said his name was Landon.

“Oh, hi.” Hope said, giving a polite smile.

“Wait, let me see if I can remember.” Landon furrowed his brow in concentration for a reason Hope didn’t understand, though she did think it was cute. “Peanut butter blast, whipped cream on the bottom.” Landon recited Hope’s drink order with a proud little smile on his face.

“Yeah, that’s it.” Hope said, smiling at the sweet gesture.

“Okay, I’ll be right back with it.” Landon said, sporting a wide smile.

Maybe it was something about the simple gesture of remembering her drink order, or the innocent unburdened look in his eyes, free from a dark history and past mistakes, but Hope liked him. She made sure to give him another smile when he came back with her drink.

For the next week, Hope would go to the Mystic Grill everyday and Landon would remember her drink order. Landon would glance at her almost every time he came out of the kitchen with another order, and if he saw her looking back he would greet her with a smile. And each day that Hope came in, she would stay a little later, but totally not just to see Landon smile at her one more time.

That next Monday, Hope had to help Dr. Saltzman with a project he had been working on, and she ended up at the diner later than usual. She didn’t really realize how late it was until Landon came out of the back to talk to her. Hope had been lost in a sketch for a while and hadn’t noticed everyone leave around her.

“Hey,” Landon greeted her with a smile. “Not to be pushy or anything, but are you done with your shake?” Landon pointed to the completely empty milkshake glass that Hope had long forgotten about. “It’s fine if you’re not, I’m just getting ready to close up soon and was wondering.” Landon adds, sounding nervous.

“Oh, yeah, I’m done.” Hope said, pushing the glass toward him. “If you’re closing up, I can get out of your hair.” She started to get up, but Landon’s voice stopped her.

“No, you can stay if you want. I’ve still got to clean stuff up for the night, and I wouldn’t mind a little company.” Landon said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. He honestly expected her to give a reason she had to leave anyways. He certainly didn’t expect her to stay and hang out with minimum wage worker that maybe, just maybe had a huge crush on her.

“Okay.” Hope said simply, settling back in her seat and picking her pencil back up. She smiled at his slightly surprised expression before focusing back on her sketch.

Landon couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he went back to cleaning the floors. He wiped down the tables and moved back to the counter to wipe that down as well.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I never did catch your name.” Landon said, absentmindedly wiping at the counter with a cloth.

Hope looked up and met his curious eyes. She really liked his eyes. “Hope.” She answered with a slight smile.

“I’m Landon.” He introduced himself.

“I know.”

Landon looked confused at Hope for a moment. Hope chuckled and tapped her own shoulder in the place where Landon had his name tag. He looked down and realization dawned quickly on his face. He groaned softly.

“Aw man, I always forget I’m wearing that thing.” Landon said with a laugh. “So, do you live around here? I mean I don’t know who would drive any amount of distance for our below average food, but you never know.”

“I don’t think it’s that bad, but, yes, I do live in town.”

“Do you go to Mystic Falls High? I’ve never seen you there, but then again, I don’t really look up a lot.”

“No, I don’t go to Mystic Falls High.”

Landon suddenly gets a distressed look on his face. “I’m going to be really embarrassed right now if you say that you’re like 22 and I just assumed you were a teenager.”

“No, no, you’re fine. I’m a sophomore at the Salvatore Boarding School.” Hope said, smiling at the embarrassed blush on Landon’s cheeks.

“Oh, the Salvatore School, right.” Landon said, relaxing. “Isn’t that the preppy private school for--” Landon cuts himself off, that distressed look quickly returning to his face. “Um, nevermind.”

Hope was well aware of the reputation that her school had in Mystic Falls, but it never bothered her, and the blush on Landon’s cheeks was very cute, so why not tease him a little? “Oh come on, what were you going to say?” 

“Nothing, not a thing.”

“Landon, I’m not going to be mad,” Hope reassures him, smiling.

“Okay, well, just remember that this isn’t what I think, because obviously I’ve never met anyone from Salvatore before. It’s just what people around town say, and who knows if they’ve ever even met someone there, I--”

“Landon.” Hope gently cuts him off.

“I was going to say that it’s a school for troubled rich kids.” Landon finally said, wincing slightly in anticipation of Hope’s response.

Hope laughs. “I mean, it’s not entirely inaccurate.”

Landon thought his heart stopped for a moment. He didn’t think he had heard a more beautiful thing in his life than Hope’s laugh. Landon smiled and looked at Hope out of the corner of his eye, as he tried to get any actual cleaning done.

An awkward silence stretched between them for a moment, neither of them sure what to say next. Hope looked back down at her sketch, but didn’t pick up her pencil. After a moment, Landon spoke again.

“Do you mind if I play some music?” Landon asked.

When Hope shook her head, Landon moved out from behind the counter and over to the jukebox. Hope’s eyes followed Landon as he pulled several tokens from his pocket, inserted them into the jukebox, and made a few quick selections.

“What songs did you pick?” Hope asked when he returned to cleaning and re-cleaning the same spot in front of her.

“Oh, I usually just throw a bunch of random selections on. It takes less time and it’s kind of fun to see what songs the jukebox gods will bless me with. And trust me there are some really weird ones in there.”

Hope laughed at his explanation. “Jukebox gods?” She asked in disbelief and Landon nodded vigorously. “Okay, I’ve got to know, what’s the weirdest song you’ve heard from it?”

“Oh God, it’s hard to choose just one.” Landon said, his brow furrowing adorably in concentration. “I’d have to go with the reggae version of it’s raining men.”

“What? You’re making that up.” Hope said, laughing.

“No, it’s real, I swear.” Landon laughed with Hope, thinking he could probably listen to her laugh forever. “It actually sounds pretty good.”

They spend the rest of the night talking while Landon finished cleaning up, which took three times as long as it usually did, but he didn’t mind. The music played softly in the background, no song interesting enough to draw their attention from each other.

From that day forward, Hope only came to the diner about an hour before closing, but usually spent over an hour talking with Landon after closing. Sometimes, she would just sit and draw while she waited for Landon to finish loading the dishwasher and when he would reemerge from the kitchen they would pick up their conversation right where it left off.

One night, Landon was refilling napkin dispensers and Hope was idly drawing trees in her sketchbook. Landon was telling Hope a funny story about his history teacher.

“Oh, I love this song,” Hope said suddenly as the track on the jukebox changed.

Landon listened for a moment before responding. “I think I’ve heard this one before.”

Hope didn’t respond. She closed her eyes and swayed slightly to music, humming a little. Landon watched, amazed by how beautiful one person could be.

“Do you want to dance?” The words were out of Landon’s mouth before he could think better of them.

“Hm?” Hope murmured, opening her eyes and breaking out of her trance.

“I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I was just thinking because you said you really liked the song, and…I don’t know.” Landon rambled out nervously.

Hope looked at him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she smiled slightly and said, “Sure.”

“Oh, okay.” Landon replied, taken off guard. He quickly took off his apron, getting it caught on something in his haste, and stepped out in front of Hope. He smiled nervously and offered her his hand.

Hope giggled a little and took his hand in hers. She placed her other hand on his shoulder and he very hesitantly placed his on her hip. They swayed in time with the song, Landon often looking anxiously down at his feet to make sure he isn’t stepping on Hope. Hope smiled and danced and almost forgot about all the things she could never tell this boy.


	6. New and Old Brothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael nods and gets to his feet, but hesitates for a moment. “I love you, man,” He tells Landon.
> 
> “I love you, too, man.” Landon answers, his eyes dropping to the floor dejectedly as Rafael walks away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter introduces the first major originial character that I brought in to fill in the gaps (anyone notice that there are literally only 3 staff members throughout the entire first season, like Alaric hire more staff). Also, I made the wolf pack dynamic different, so now it's friendly and not vaguely gang-like. Jed is no longer an antagonist because I love supportive masculinity and Rafael deserves good things.
> 
> Tumblr: @werederg

Landon is sitting on the floor of the empty office with his back against the desk when Rafael finds him. Walking down the hall next to Rafael is Dr. Saltzman, and Landon finds himself really disliking that man.

“Take as much time as you want, just let me know when you make your decision or if there’s anything else you need.” Dr. Saltzman says to Rafael before turning to head back down the hall. He doesn’t even spare Landon a glance, but Landon isn’t really offended.

Rafael sighs and his shoulders sag as he walks over to Landon. “Man, am I glad to see you.” Raf says with a tired smile. “I feel like I’ve entered into crazy land. None of this seems real.”

“Yeah.” Landon agrees giving Raf a look that says he knows exactly what he is talking about.

Rafael then walks forward to embrace his brother, but is immediately stopped by an invisible force field. Rafael bounces back off the barrier, blinking in confusion. Landon winces at the collision.

“Sorry, I should’ve warned you. Hope put a barrier around the room.”

“Why?” Rafael says, sounding irritated.

“I guess it’s to make sure I’m safe.” Landon says, trying to placate his friend’s anger.

“More like trapped.” Rafael grumbles off-handedly, but he just sighs and sits down across from Landon. “How are you doing?”

Landon shrugs. “Fine, mostly just bored. How are you doing? You’re the one who’s whole life just got turned upside down.”

“I don’t know, man. I’m not even sure I’ve convinced myself that any of this is real. I feel like everything is moving too fast right now. I don’t know if I can really see myself going here. It’s all weird, rich kids and private school shit.” Rafael sighs. “And I’ve got to make a decision soon.”

“Do you want to know what I think?” Landon asks.

“Yeah, always, dude.”

“I think it’s pretty clear what choice you have to make. This is a really nice place, Raf, and, yeah, it’s nothing like what we know, but it’s undoubtedly better. This whole supernatural thing is weird, but if you ever want to understand it, this might be your only chance. Where else are you going to find a place that knows what’s going on with you and where there are other people going through the same thing? And they  _ want _ you here, man. I don’t think you can say no.” Landon says, as evenly as he can manage. Happiness for his brother and dread at losing him are having a battle in his stomach, and it makes Landon feel sick.

“What about you?” There is more sadness in Rafael’s voice than pity, which Landon appreciates.

“I’ll be fine, man. We all get one break in life, and this is yours, dude. You can’t turn that down, just cause you’ll miss me. You might never get another chance.” Landon says, struggling to keep his voice upbeat and hopeful. His voice still cracks despite his best efforts.

“You’re right, I just…after everything you’ve done for me.”

“Don’t even worry about me, bro. I’ve been doing this for a while, I’ll make it.” Landon manages a small smile that feels so forced it hurts.

Rafael looks at Landon for a moment, his expression equal parts sad and grateful. Then he slaps a hand against the barrier spell. “Stupid barrier.” Rafael grumbles, “get out of my way, so I can hug my brother.” Tears threaten to spill out of Raf’s shining eyes.

Landon tries to laugh off the pressure behind his own eyes. “Come on, man. You should go tell that creepy headmaster guy. I’m sure he’s dying to know.”

Rafael nods and gets to his feet, but hesitates for a moment. “I love you, man,” He tells Landon.

“I love you, too, man.” Landon answers, his eyes dropping to the floor dejectedly as Rafael walks away. 

Rafael goes and tells Dr. Saltzman, who doesn’t seem even a little surprised. Dr. Saltzman gives him a few papers to fill out, saying there will be more later once he is settled. Dr. Saltzman tells him that in the next few days he will meet with his assigned dean of students to set up his schedule and inform him of the school’s policies. Then he calls that same dean, and tells her to assign him a dorm and introduce him to his pack.

“I’ll show you your dorm first, so you can put your stuff down. Then we will go meet your pack. Sound good?” The dean says, as they exit Dr. Saltzman’s office.

She is a tall woman, about as tall as Raf is. She has curly brown hair that is cut in a short style, one that reminds Raf a little bit of a horse’s mane. She looks like she is of Latin descent and speaks with a bit of an accent. She wears a light blue button down with the Salvatore school crest on it. She has the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, which provides a brief outline of a tattoo on her upper arm. She has a warm smile and walks in stride with Rafael easily, never going too fast or too slow.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Rafael says, as they reach the first floor of the admin building.

“My name is Kayla Reyes, by the way, but most people call me Butch. I’m the dean for high school aged werewolves, and a werewolf myself.” 

“Why do people call you Butch?”

The woman laughs fondly, seemingly familiar with the question. “Well, there’s a couple of reasons, but mostly it’s because it was my nickname when I was in the service.”

“You were in the military?”

“Yep, Army to be specific. I wasn’t in it very long mind you. Started having behavioral problems a few months after being deployed,” Butch says, giving Rafael a knowing look.

Rafael nods in understanding. “I was actually considering military service myself for a little bit, but I guess not anymore.”

“Yeah, plans change. You really never know what life is going to throw at you, and this one, it’ll knock you out if you’re not careful. But that’s what we’re all here to help you with.” Butch stops at a maintenance door, and turns to Rafael. “I need to grab the key to your room. Be right back.” 

Butch disappears into the room for a moment before reappearing quickly with a large ring of keys in her hand. She separates one key from the rest and continues walking down the hall, Rafael following quickly being her.

“You’re going to be on the 4th floor, Rafael. We can take the elevator.” Butch says, taking a sharp right turn into the hall that contains the elevator. “This is the maintenance key that we’re going to use to get in right now, but I’ll make sure you have a copy by the end of the day.”

Butch takes Raf up to his room, lets him put his stuff down and relax a little. She says that she needs to stop in her office to get something, but really she just wants to give him a chance to rest by himself.

The dorm room is relatively bare, containing nothing more than a bed, a desk, and a dresser, along with some closet space. It is a single room and fairly small, but for Rafael it’s bigger than some spaces he’s had to live in and at least it is all his own. The bed already has bedding, sheets that display the same Salvatore crest that Rafael keeps seeing everywhere. Rafael considers for the first time that he may have to wear a uniform. He frowns at the idea, but maybe he’ll get used to it.

When Butch comes back, Rafael is half sitting on his desk, spaced out staring at the floor. She knocks on the doorframe as a courtesy even though the door is wide open. The sharp sound seems to break Rafael out of his thoughts. He blinks a few times before turning his attention back to his guide.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Butch asks gently.

Rafael just shrugs and frowns down at the floor.

“I’ll tell you what, how about we wait a little bit before going to meet your pack? We can just sit here and relax some. I can answer any questions you have.”

Rafael shakes his head. “People keep telling me that, but I don’t even know what questions to ask.”

Butch smiles at that. “I know what you mean. It wasn’t that long ago that I was in the same position that you are. Sometimes you can’t even figure out the words you need to explain what you don’t know. It’ll start to make sense in time, and you’ll have people there to help you along the way. I know you haven’t met your pack yet, but they’ll be a great resource. They have gone through or are going through mostly the same things you are right now and they can really help. Additionally, my office is open at almost all hours of the day if you ever need to talk or have a question. And if you can’t find me, pretty much any of the other werewolves have my schedule memorized, so they’ll know where I am. Honestly, that’s what I think is the best part about this school, you never have to go through anything alone.”

Rafael takes the information in for a minute. The idea of being surrounded by people willing and able to help and understand him feels like a foreign concept and he’s not sure how he feels about it. He looks at Butch for long moment, not really sure why he says what he says next.

“Can I ask you something? It’s kinda off topic.” 

“Yeah, of course, Rafael.”

“Do you speak Spanish?”

Butch looks a little surprised by the question and considers it for a moment. “_Sí, mi familia siempre hablaba Español cuando era joven_.”

Hearing the language spoken with ease and familiarity causes Rafael’s eyes to brighten in excitement. “_Yo tambien_,” he says, ducking his head in embarrassment to hide the wide grin that makes its way onto his face. “My mom used to speak it all the time when I was younger, but I haven’t used it in a while, so I might be a little rusty.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, I’ll make sure you get some practice in. Keep you on your toes.”

Rafael laughs. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Butch says, unable to keep the fond smile off her face. “You think you’re ready to meet your pack now?”

Rafael nods, the ghost of a smile on his face. His eyes are brighter than before and he seems more lively.

“Alright, we can head over. I think they’re in an active period right now.” Butch says, leading them out of the room and down the hall. “Oh, and there will be someone going down to see your foster parents today to make sure they don’t remember too much from last night, and while they’re there, we’ll make sure they pick up whatever stuff you have.”

“It’s not much.” Rafael says, his eyes darkening a little.

“Maybe, but, trust me, you’ll want it.”

Butch takes Rafael to a gymnasium in the basement of the dorm building. It is a large open area with a few columns that serve to separate the room into quarters. In each quarter there is a mat covering a large portion of the floor with carts of equipment up against the walls nearby. Only one of the quarters is occupied by about 10 students standing in a circle throwing a large medicine ball around with ease.

As the two approach the circle, a few of the students notice and greet Butch familiarly. The game they are playing is quickly stopped as Butch and Rafael grow near.

“Hey, Butch.” One boy greets with a subtle questioning look, as he turns to face the newcomers. “What’s up?”

“Hi, Jed. You guys are getting a new pack member today. Rafael just came in this morning. I thought it would be good for him to hang with you guys for the rest of the day, to get acclimated and get to know you. Sound good?” Butch explains.

Jed gives Rafael a once over that makes Rafael’s skin crawl. What authority did this guy have to judge him? Rafael’s hands clench subconsciously at his sides.

“Yeah, of course, Butch. We’re happy to have him.” Jed says, turning back to Butch.

“Alright then, you guys have fun. If there are any problems come find me, okay?” Butch says, meeting both Rafael’s eyes and Jed’s equally. “Okay, I’ll see you guys later. Jed, Marley, don’t forget about practice tomorrow night.” And with that, Butch is out the door.

Rafael turns from where he was watching Butch leave to find the circle of people staring at him. Some of the students look more apathetic to his presence, not looking so intently at him. Jed, the boy closest to him, takes a step toward Rafael, meeting Rafael’s gaze intensely. Rafael forces himself not to give into the temptation to take a step back and cast his gaze away from the vaguely intimidating one staring at him.

“You a hugger?” Jed asks suddenly.

“Yeah, I guess?” Rafael answers reflexively, startled at the unexpected question.

Before Rafael can think very hard or ask anymore questions, Jed wraps his arms tightly around Rafael in a warm embrace. Rafael immediately stiffens, his brain screaming at him about how weird this all is. But another part of Rafael, one deeper inside him, calms him down, tells him it’s okay, and allows him to relax comfortably in the other boy’s strong arms.

After a long moment, Jed draws away, keeping his hands on Rafael’s shoulders. Jed looks him in the eyes again, Rafael now seeing an inexplicable kinship in them he couldn’t see before.

“Welcome to the pack,” Jed says, and behind him the other wolves erupt in expressions of the same sentiment.

Jed leads Rafael with one hand on his shoulder to an empty place in the circle. A few of the wolves they pass on the way clap Rafael on the back and tell him how glad they are he is here. Rafael has no idea what is happening, but somehow it feels right.

“We were just tossing the medicine ball back and forth for an exercise where anytime you catch it, you say something about your day today. We’re going to modify that so we can get to know you a little better and you can get to know us.” A girl across the circle from Jed explains. Rafael thinks her name is Marley from what Butch said earlier. “So now when you catch the ball, say your name the first time, and every time after that say something about yourself.”

The other wolves nod in understanding and begin to throw the ball around again. Rafael is startled a little at first by how fast and hard the wolves throw the ball around. However after catching the ball himself and being advised to throw it as naturally he can, Rafael realizes he is capable as throwing it with just as much force. He slowly gets used to the speed and strength of his pack mates, as well as learning a few things about them. There is something so comfortable about these people Rafael has only just met, but, at least for now, he doesn’t think he needs to understand it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize to any people who speak spanish for any mistakes I made. I've taken like 3 and a half years of spanish in school, so I tried my best, but if anyone has any pointers, I would appreciate that.  
For anyone that doesn't know spanish, Butch's line was supposed to say "yes, my family always used to speak spanish when I was young" and Raf says "me too"


	7. Hope and Fear (no, this is not supposed to be a pun)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Block with your hand.” Dr. Saltzman advises after extending a hand towards Hope in a strike that didn’t land.
> 
> “I know. I got it,” Hope snaps irritably, roughly pushing his hand out of the way and throwing a strike of her own.
> 
> “If you had it, I wouldn’t have to say it.”

Hope is sitting by the dock for 10 minutes before she gets a text from Dr. Saltzman saying that he is going to be late for their usual training session. He continues a few seconds later, by saying that she should come and meet him by a specific classroom, so they can head over as soon as he’s done talking with a teacher. Hope grumbles to herself and heads over to the classroom Dr. Saltzman mentioned.

Despite having already delayed their session, Dr. Saltzman keeps Hope waiting outside the classroom even longer. Hope leans against the wall outside the classroom, arms crossed tightly over her chest and a scowl on her face. 

As Hope waits, she hears a recognizable gait from somewhere down the hall. The instant she hears it, she wishes she hadn’t. Who the hell is so extra that they have a distinct way of walking? Usually it wouldn’t bother her at all, but Hope is not having a particularly great day, coupled with running on even less sleep than usual, so she really is not in the mood to deal with Penelope Park.

“Hey, Mikaelson.” The voice lilts unpleasantly from a little ways down the hall. The only people who call Hope by her last name are people looking to get punched.

“Park.” Hope grits out from behind a clenched jaw, not bothering to look up at the girl approaching.

“Looking good today. You’re really pulling off that Loner Chic.” Penelope comments sarcastically, but there’s almost a complement in there, somewhere.

“Thanks, I’ve really been working on that casually hostile vibe.” Hope says dryly, her voice containing a threatening edge.

Penelope stops and looks at her for a moment before laughing in a way that is weirdly genuine. “Okay, see you around, Mikaelson.” Penelope says casually, continuing to walk down the hall.

“Or not.” Hope calls after her, going back to scowling at the wall as she waits. Hope is left waiting for about a minute longer before Dr. Saltzman emerges from the classroom, looking even more tired and disheveled than he was earlier.

Dr. Saltzman doesn’t seem to see Hope for a moment, eyes staring blankly past her in exhaustion.

“Dr. Saltzman?” Hope says, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, Hope.” Dr. Salzman pauses for a long time, as if not remembering why Hope is there.

“Our training session.” Hope prompts, an irritated and concerned expression on her face.

“Right. I actually still need to change.” Dr. Saltzman says, looking down at his rumbled clothes he had been wearing the previous night. “Why don’t you head down to the dock, while I go change, and then I’ll meet you there. You can warm up while you’re waiting.”

Hope rolls her eyes and scowls. “I’m pretty sure I’m already warmed up.” Hope mutters to herself as she watches Dr. Saltzman disappear down the hall to go change.

When Dr. Saltzman finally arrives down at the dock, he is in sweatpants and a stained t-shirt. They do a quick warm up before beginning to spar lazily. They are both tired and strained from a long stressful night, so neither is really putting a lot of effort into the session. Hope had thought training would help her feel better, but she finds her frustration has no energy behind it.

“Block with your hand.” Dr. Saltzman advises after extending a hand towards Hope in a strike that didn’t land.

“I know. I got it,” Hope snaps irritably, roughly pushing his hand out of the way and throwing a strike of her own.

“If you had it, I wouldn’t have to say it.”

Hope growls in frustration and breaks her stance. “Why don’t we just take a break?” She says harshly, stomping over to where her water bottle is.

Dr. Saltzman nods and follows Hope off to the side, grabbing his own water bottle. “So, about Landon…” Dr. Saltzman says after a long moment.

Hope turns to glare at him. “You act like I’m not still mad at you about that.”

“About what?” Dr. Saltzman asks, genuinely confused.

Hope huffs, “You didn’t have to lock him in a cell!”

“How was I supposed to know he was claustrophobic?”

“You weren’t, you were just supposed to treat him with a little more decency.”

“Okay, you’re right, I’m sorry.” Dr. Saltzman relents after a moment, dragging his hands across his tired face. “We’ve never really dealt with anything like this and I made the wrong decision.”

“Thank you.” Hope says, trying to let go of her built up irritation that now had nowhere to go.

Dr. Saltzman waits a long moment before continuing, “What exactly is between you and Landon, anyways?”

“You know, you’re supposed to be my teacher and mentor. You don’t need to act like my friend.” Hope snaps irritably, clearly trying to avoid the question.

“Well, Hope, you know if you actually attempted to make a friend around here, maybe I wouldn’t have to.” Dr. Saltzman then adds, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, though. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Hope sighs and doesn’t say anything for a minute or so. “I liked him. He’s normal.” Hope says quietly, staring at the ground.

Dr. Saltzman smiles fondly at that, Hope’s shyness reminding him of when she had first come to the school as a socially awkward little eight year old. “Hopefully we can keep him that way. I’ve been talking with Dorian about what kind of tests we can do to see why he couldn’t be compelled. I’ll let you know as soon as we come up with a plan.”

“Good,” Hope says, putting down her water bottle and returning to sparring.

Rafael and his pack are heading over to the dining hall to grab dinner as the sun is beginning to set. Overall, the wolves have been extremely friendly to Rafael and he feels comfortable hanging out with them. That’s why when Jed asks him what is wrong he doesn’t hesitate to answer honestly.

“It’s just my brother got wrapped up in all of this last night and they locked him up in some room all by himself. I wish he could be here to meet you guys and so I can hang out with him one more time before he has to go home.” Rafael says.

One of the other wolves, who Rafael recently learned is named Andrew, says, “Why don’t we just go get him? He can hang out for a couple of hours and then we can put him back before the headmaster checks. Nobody would know.”

“There’s a barrier spell on the room. If you guys know how to bring it down, we could.” Rafael says hopefully.

Jed furrows his brow. “The only person who can usually take down a spell before the intended time would be whoever cast it.”

Rafael shakes his head. “I don’t think Hope would do that.”

Andrew gives him a knowing look of agreement. “Yeah, Mikaelson is not really one to be too helpful.” Andrew thinks for a moment. “Oh, Jed, what about the siphoners?”

Jed nods. “Yeah, we could get one of the Saltzman twins to do it. Their magic relies on absorbing magical energy from other sources, which means they can siphon the magic off the barrier spell to bring it down. They’re probably in the dining hall right now, if you want to see if you can talk them into it.”

Rafael cringes at the idea of talking to Lizzie again. That girl has no chill, but Rafael will do it for Landon if he has too.

As the doors of the dining hall come into view, one of the wolves shouts something about a race. Immediately, all of Rafael’s packmates break out into a sprint, which he quickly joins in on, laughing as one of his packmates pushes him playfully out of the way as he tries to pass them. 

The pack eventually makes it into the dining hall with more rough housing than is ever necessary. They flood the line for food along with another pack of overenthusiastic wolves. They comingle in the line, Rafael being introduced quickly to a few of his other classmates. After grabbing some food, Rafael spots Josie, Lizzie and MG sitting at a table with a few other students. Rafael tells his pack he will be back and heads off in their direction.

“Um, hi,” Rafael says awkwardly once he has reached the table.

Josie and MG are facing Rafael, while Lizzie has her back to his approach. When he greets them, Josie smiles, MG gives an awkward wave, and Lizzie spins around in her chair startled. 

“Rafael, hi,” Lizzie says instantly, cutting off Josie’s own greeting from behind her. Lizzie’s eyes are wide as she stares at Rafael, scrambling to find the words she had prepared for this moment. “I just wanted to say that I am so sorry for what I said earlier. I had no idea about your girlfriend and I would never have said those things if I had known.” Lizzie’s mouth stays open as if prepared to continue at a moment’s notice.

“It’s okay, Lizzie. I get it. You didn’t know.” Rafael cuts her off quickly, really not wanting any more reminders of his loss.

“Thank you,” Lizzie says, a big hopeful smile appearing on her face. “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you.”

“Well, actually there is something you could help me with.” Rafael proceeds to explain the barrier spell around Landon, making sure to reassure the twins that he had no plans of breaking Landon out permanently.

“Yes, of course we can help you with that.” Lizzie says immediately.

“Lizzie, wait, if Dad put him in there, I’m sure there’s a good reason for it.” Josie counters.

“I get that, but I’ll be with him the whole time. I just want to spend some time with my brother before you guys have to send him home,” Rafael says, a pleading look in his eyes.

Lizzie turns and looks at Josie with a similar pleading look. The combination of the two is enough to completely dissolve Josie’s objections.

“Okay, fine. We can go get him after dinner,” Josie concedes, smiling at the way Rafael and Lizzie’s eyes light up when she does.

“Awesome, thank you! I’ll catch up with you guys later then,” Rafael says throwing one last grateful look before heading back over to his pack.

“This is a bad idea,” MG says apathetically from behind a blood bag that constitutes his dinner.

“Don’t be such a spoilsport, MG,” Lizzie and Josie say in unison.

“I brought you some food.” Hope’s voice rings through the steadily darkening hall. Landon hears her before she appears in front of the door way, illuminated by the one light inside the empty office.

“Thanks,” Landon says, a little breathless at the sudden sight of Hope. “I was starting to think you guys had forgotten about me.”

Hope frowns at this and Landon instantly wishes he hadn’t said it.

“Of course not,” Hope says plainly. Then she makes a slight movement with her hand, presumably bringing down the barrier spell, and slides a tray of food over to him. She doesn’t put it back up right away, or at least Landon doesn’t think so. He can’t really be sure.

Landon takes the food gratefully, self-conscious of Hope’s eyes lingering on him as he eats. “You can go if you want to. I’m sure you’d rather be eating with your friends and not the prisoner.” Landon laughs with forced humor.

Hope’s gaze falls to the floor for a moment. “I usually eat in my room, actually.”

“Oh, me too.” Landon smiles softly. “Well, at least until I had Raf to eat with.”

Hope has to stop herself from apologizing to Landon again. There is nothing she can do. “I talked to Dr. Saltzman. The plan right now is to keep you here for another day to do some tests to see if there’s a reason why you weren’t compelled. If there isn’t any conclusive evidence, we’ll try to compel you again and hopefully send you home,” Hope explains.

“Oh, okay.” Landon thinks for a moment. “What happens if I’m not compelled again?” Landon asks, a worried look in his eyes.

“I don’t know. It’ll be up to Dr. Saltzman.”

A long moment of silence stretches between the two. Crickets can be heard chirping from out the open windows behind Landon. There is a vague sound of people working in their respective offices around them.

“I’m sorry for causing you guys all of this trouble,” Landon mumbles self-consciously. “I’ll try to get out of your hair as quick as possible.”

“Landon…” Hope says, aching at the pain in the boy’s voice. She wants to reach out to him so badly.

“No, it’s okay, Hope,” Landon says, trying to give a comforting smile to erase the worried expression in Hope’s beautiful eyes. “I’ll find my place in the world. It’s just not here.” Landon can’t keep the sadness out of his voice which gives away the fact that he hasn’t believed those words in a long time.

“You don’t know that, Landon,” Hope says lamely, any other false comforting words catching in her throat.

Landon just shrugs at that, giving Hope another weak smile.

Hope gets lost in his eyes for a long moment, the sadness there, the dissolving faith in a better life, the happiness for his brother at getting what he has yet to find. She’s entranced by how vulnerable and genuine it all is, by how beautiful it is.

“It was good to see you again, Landon,” Hope says, trying to muster as much genuineness in it as she can manage, of course falling far short of anything Landon has ever expressed to her. “I’ll see you in the morning for the testing.”

Hope gets to her feet and starts to put the barrier spell back up, but she hesitates. She stares into space for a long moment, deep in thought. Just as Landon is about to ask what is wrong, Hope seems to make a decision. She performs a spell that Landon doesn’t recognize, followed by one that he thinks is the barrier spell. Hope looks at him for another long moment, almost expectantly.

“What?” Landon asks.

Hope motions for Landon to look up. He gives her a confused look before tipping his head back. Landon loses his breath as he sees the previously beige ceiling has been transformed into an expansive night sky, stars twinkling from far outside the bounds of the room he is in. It feels like the whole of the universe has opened up before him, to the point that he barely even remembers that he’s a prisoner in an unused office space.

“Oh my God,” Landon breaths out. “Hope, it’s beautiful.”

“I thought that might help you get to sleep.”

Landon manages to tear his gaze away from marvelling at the sky above him to look at the wonderful girl who gave it to him. Hope’s eyes shine in the starlight and Landon thinks that she looks even more beautiful than the lights shining down on him.

“Thank you,” Landon says, awestruck.

Hope smiles at him. “Sleep tight,” She says before walking away.

Landon watches down the hallway long after he can no longer see Hope. Then he goes and lies down on the sleeping bag and pillow that had been brought to him earlier, and stares up at the stars. He thinks of all the places in the world that can see the same sky no matter where you are and all the places in the galaxy that he could see from his tiny speck on this planet. He realizes that he has only ever seen a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the whole of the universe. Maybe there still is a place out there for him.


	8. The Best of Intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Josie, Lizzie, this is my brother, Landon.” Rafael introduces, guiding Landon over to the door.
> 
> “Foster-brother,” Landon clarifies quietly, just in case they were confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I decided to make MG trans for the sake of this fic. It becomes relevant to his relationship/arc with Kaleb, but other than that I thought it would just be something cool to add in.  
Disclaimer is I am not transgender myself (well, I'm questioning, but that's besides the point), but I have friends that are trans, so I'm just doing my best with what I know. If you have any feedback or questions about it, let me know. Additionally, I will try to put warnings for any explicit transphobia in the notes before the chapter. Other than that it might just be a micro aggression or two. Let me know if there is anything I forgot or you think I should tag/warn about. I don’t want anybody to be uncomfortable.

Landon must have fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he knows he’s being jolted awake by the sound of Rafael calling to him.

“Raf?” Landon murmurs sleepily. He sits up and sees Rafael standing outside the barrier around the door with two girls he doesn't recognize. They look far away and removed from the peaceful little world Landon has settled into underneath the starlight spell. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m busting you out for a little bit, man. Or, they’re going to,” Rafael says, gesturing to the two girls next to him.

Right on cue, the two girls simultaneously place their hands against the invisible barrier. Their hands suddenly glow a vibrant red, the air around them shimmering. The next thing Landon knows, Rafael is rushing into the room and dragging him to his feet to give him a big hug. Landon relaxes easily into his brother’s arms after a second, wrapping his arms around Rafael to reciprocate.

“Dude, it’s so good to see. I feel like we’ve been apart for days,” Rafael says, pulling away slightly.

“Yeah, I know right? What’s going on though, bro?” Landon says, a little upset that his peaceful sleep had been interrupted.

“Lizzie and Josie helped me break you out so you can come hang out with me tonight, before you have to go back. They’re having a party in the woods right now, dude, and you’ve got to come and meet my pack. They are really good guys and they can do some cool shit.” Rafael says excitedly, starting to usher Landon out the door.

“Oh okay,” Landon says absently, his brain struggling to catch up to the series of events. It had been a long day and he was kind of hoping it would be over, but he can’t really say no to Rafael’s excitement. Plus, he’s not going to turn down spending any extra time with his brother.

“Josie, Lizzie, this is my brother, Landon.” Rafael introduces, guiding Landon over to the door.

“Foster-brother,” Landon clarifies quietly, just in case they were confused.

“So you’re the one Dad was spending all day trying to figure out.” Lizzie says, obvious resentment in her voice.

Josie glances quickly at her sister before extending a hand towards Landon. “I’m Josie. It’s nice to meet you Landon.”

Landon flinches back a little at Josie’s sudden outstretched hand. Upon seeing the hurt expression on her face, Landon’s hands find his pockets and he looks down at the floor, feeling guilty.

“Sorry,” Landon murmurs softly. “I-- uh, sorry. I just...” Landon trails off nervously.

Luckily, Rafael steps in for Landon. “It’s okay, Josie. Landon just isn’t good with physical contact with people he doesn’t know.” Rafael explains, a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Josie apologizes quickly.

“It’s okay,” Landon says just as quickly.

“Anyways,” Lizzie interrupts, breaking the tension a little, “I’m Lizzie. We’re sisters, twins actually.” 

“Oh, okay, hi,” Landon greets awkwardly.

“Well, let’s get going, I don’t want to keep the pack waiting.” Rafael says, casually blowing past the nervous energy in the room. He begins to walk down the hall, Landon following close beside him.

“Raf, are sure this is a good idea? What happens if I get caught?” Landon asks anxiously next to Rafael.

“No worries, dude. Nobody really knows who you are, except the people I talked to, and they aren’t going to rat you out.”

“What if someone else sees me, someone that knows I’m supposed to be locked up?”

“MG’s not going to say anything,” Josie interjects. “Who else would know about you?”

“Hope,” Landon says, uncertainly.

Lizzie laughs sharply. “Um, yeah, no. Hope Mikaelson is not going to be at a party,” Lizzie says, smirking to herself.

“Oh, okay,” Landon says, furrowing his brow.

The first thing Landon registers at the party is that it is very loud. There are three different sources of music blasting from three different places in the wooded area, along with the general din of people. Landon winces under the onslaught of sound as Rafael drags him over to campfire where several students are gathered.

An older boy gets up as soon as Rafael approaches and claps Raf on the back. The circle of people break out in even more noise as Raf joins them. Landon winces again, trying to stay as close to Rafael as possible without drawing attention to himself.

“Hey guys!” Rafael greets the circle excitedly. “So everybody, this is my brother, Landon. Landon, this is my pack.”

Landon clarifies that they’re foster brothers again, but his words are lost immediately to the noise around him. The pack members only add to the din by greeting him with a series of enthusiastic shouts. Landon can only respond with an awkward wave and a mumbled, inaudible hello. They say all good things, accepting and welcoming things that Landon has probably never heard in his life, but they all smear together into one overwhelming sound.

Landon lurches forward to his brother. He lays a hand on Raf’s shoulder to get his attention. Rafael spins around quickly, eyes bright and a wide smile on his face. Landon can’t remember the last time he saw his brother this happy. Landon suddenly feels wrong just being there, like he is intruding into Raf’s happy moment. He feels sick and can barely get air through his tightening throat.

“Oh, dude, you gotta see this,” Raf says upon seeing Landon. 

Rafael moves to reveal one of the pack preparing to perform some sort of stunt. It is not one of the students Landon even vaguely recognizes. She takes a running start before sprinting startlingly far up a tree trunk. She kicks off the side of the trunk about four feet up, sending herself up even higher. She catches a thick branch on a neighboring tree, gives an incoherent shout, and drops down to the ground easily. Then she stands up, unharmed, and the pack lets out a roar of enthusiasm.

“Isn’t that the coolest shit!” Raf says to Landon, having to shout over the din.

Landon nods, wincing away from the noise around him. “Um, Raf,” Landon says, struggling to make himself heard. Rafael leans in close to hear him. “I’m going to go get a drink and some air. I’ll be back.”

Rafael gives him a thumbs up and turns quickly back to the commotion of his pack’s antics.

Landon quickly stumbles away from the group. He wanders a little, navigating only by how much he can reduce the roar in his ears. Once he has reached a place suitably far away that he can hear himself think, he leans up against a tree and takes a few deep breaths to steady his nerves. 

“Hey, buddy, you okay there?” A smooth, charming voice comes out of the trees.

Landon spins around to find an attractive girl with dark brown hair sizing him up with a cup in her hands. “What?” Is all Landon manages to say, realizing too late that that is not the sort of response that gets strangers to stop asking questions, like he would prefer.

The girl cocks her head to the side and raises a knowing eyebrow at him. “Hey, aren’t you that ‘human’ kid that came in with the new wolf?” She says, the word human in quotation marks. 

“Yeah,” Landon says lamely, mentally hitting himself for not being able to think of a lie or a cover. He doesn’t think he would have fooled the girl anyways. In fact, based on the next thing she says, he thinks the question might have been rhetorical.

“Say, aren’t you supposed to be locked up somewhere until further notice?” The girl says, clearly knowing the answer is yes. Despite the well crafted tone of the girl’s performance, Landon thinks he can hear a slight slur in her voice.

Landon freezes at her words, only managing to stumble out a few half phrases before forcing himself to shut up entirely. He looks around anxiously, wondering if he could make a run for it.

The girl watches him squirm for a moment. Her gaze is penetrating and deliberate, like she can see into his soul. After the moment has passed, she drops her intense look and gives a brief laugh.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell on you.” She says with a shrug, “Nothing in it for me, so why bother?”

She turns to leave for a moment, but hesitates and turns back around to face Landon.

“You know, you look like someone who is about ready to bolt,” The girl says confidently. “Well, if you do, I recommend leaving through the front gates. No one will be out this late to catch you and that way you’ll know where you’re going a little, instead of wandering blindly into the woods.” As soon as the girl is done talking, she turns around and heads back to the party.

Landon leans his head back against a tree and sighs, the girl’s words echoing in his mind. He stays there a long time, not really knowing what to do next. He can’t stay here, he doesn’t belong and it’s only going to hurt Raf more the longer he lingers. But where would he even go? Eventually, Landon’s feet start to move, taking him further away from the party, toward the main school buildings, toward the front gates, and far away from the new home his brother has found. He doesn’t think much of it, just hopes he won’t get lost on the way.

“MG, there you are,” Josie says, veiled relief in her voice as she walks up to where MG is standing next to a tree by a campfire.

MG turns to see Josie. “Hey,” He greets, before furrowing his brow, “wait, where’s Lizzie?”

Josie rolls her eyes. “Wandered off somewhere to watch some wolves flex or something, like she usually does.” Josie says, there’s nothing angry or surprised in her tone, just tired. “Which means, you can’t leave me for more than, like, two minutes at a time, got it.” Josie attempts to sound stern in saying this, but MG can’t take her that seriously. The girl kind of looks like a teddy bear.

“Yeah, absolutely. No problem, Jo,” MG says, slinging an arm around Josie. “I was just hanging out with Kaleb for a little, but he left once I started talking about the new Blade comic coming out.” MG lets out a little self-conscious laugh.

“Well, that’s not very nice of him. You should remind him of how we listened to him talk about Hamilton for like five hours straight when it first came out.”

MG laughs. “I would, but it might set him off on it again and I don’t really have the time to spend another three hours listening to him talk about the choreography of a musical I’ve never seen.”

MG and Josie continue to talk for a while, a few people occasionally coming and going from the conversation. They discuss some of their classes, how they think the soccer team is going to do at their next game, and their strategy for the upcoming flag football match. Eventually, they end up on the topic of Landon.

“Yeah, your dad said that they’re going to do some tests on him to see if he’s supernatural at all, and if not they’ll try to compel him again,” MG says.

“Are they going to get someone else to do it this time?” Josie says, immediately regretting it upon seeing the hurt expression on MG’s face. “Oh, God, MG, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” Josie quickly recovers.

“I know, Josie, it’s okay,” MG says, but his voice cracks a little on the words as he stares down at his feet. “I’m going to go get a drink, though. I’ll be back in a bit,” MG says, moving quickly to dive into the crowd around the drink table.

Josie watches him go guiltily. She sighs after a moment, looking around for someone to talk to.

Once MG has gotten his drink, only having been manhandled a little in the process of getting it, he stands off to the side for a moment just staring at it. He chews on his chapped lips.  _ What kind of vampire can’t compel someone? That’s like the easiest vampire trick in the book. You sure aren’t much a vampire, huh,  _ Milton _ ? _

“Hey,” A familiar voice breaks MG out his thoughts.

MG turns around to see Penelope Park standing behind him, hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. The smirk wilts a little upon seeing the look on MG’s face. She steps forward and lays a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, Pen,” MG says absently.

“Hey, you okay?” Penelope asks, concerned, cocking her head to the side, a slight tipsy smile still on her face.

“Uh, well, I mean…” MG mumbles, then shakes his head. “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”

Penelope gives him a stern look and shakes her head. “No, nuh-uh. You’re not doing that. Come on, we’re going to talk about it,” Penelope insists, taking MG’s hand and dragging him away.

MG resists for about a second, before relenting and following Penelope easily. He smiles a little at the care of his friend as she leads him into the dorm building closest and into the open kitchen area.

“Here, it should be quiet enough in here.” Penelope says, hauling herself up to sit on the kitchen counter. She puts her hands on MG’s shoulders and moves him so he stands directly in front of her. She gives him an expectant look and waits.

MG sighs and places his drink down on the counter next to Penelope. “It’s just I was talking with Kaleb earlier about the whole thing with Landon.”

“That’s the ‘human’ kid, right?” Penelope interrupts, making air quotes with her fingers.

“Yeah, and I know Kaleb wasn’t trying to make me feel worse about it. He didn’t mean it like that, but he was saying all this shit about how he’s never met a vampire who couldn’t compel someone and that’s kind of ridiculous. It just made me feel shitty. And I know it’s not the same thing, but it’s kind of triggering my dysphoria. That and I still haven’t talked to all of my teachers about me changing my preferred name over the summer. I know they don’t mean anything by it, but I’m just…” MG explains shakily, his arms hugging himself in a protective stance.

“MG, hey,” Penelope says gently, placing her hands on either side of MG’s face to tilt his head up to meet her gaze. “You know this whole thing with Landon is a complete coincidence. It would have happened to any vampire, you just happened to be Dr. Saltzman’s student aid at the time. Plus, you know I don’t think that kid is human at all. You are just as good a vampire as anyone else, MG, no matter what anyone says. Hell, I’d argue that you’re a better vampire than dumbasses like Kaleb. He’s only been a vampire for like 6 months and he thinks he’s the shit. You could out vampire him anyday.”

“Oh, come on Penelope,” MG says, rolling his eyes and smiling fondly at his friend’s exaggeration.

“No, I’m serious,” Penelope insists, a serious expression on her face. “And if any of the teachers are giving you shit about changing your name, I will throw hands. Is there someone I need to talk to?”

MG laughs and lowers the fists that Penelope has put up. “No, it’s okay, Pen. I just need to finish emailing them. It’s only taking me so long because I hate doing it.”

“Do you want me to do it?” Penelope asks immediately.

“No, no, I’m going to, I just keep putting it off.”

“Okay, well, get it done,” Penelope says semi-sternly. Penelope watches MG for a long moment, before asking gently, ”Are you feeling any better?”

MG shrugs. “Yeah, mostly.”

“Hug?” Penelope asks, opening her arms up to him.

MG immediately smiles at the gesture. Not many people know it, but Penelope Park gives objectively the best hugs and MG always feels better after one. MG nods slightly and steps forward into Penelope’s embrace, her arms wrapping tightly around his chest. The tension leaves MG’s body as he relaxes into his friend’s arms. They stay there for a peaceful moment. Unfortunately, however, the moment is shattered by someone else entering the kitchen.

“MG, are you in here? You said you were only going to be gone for--” Josie’s voice is cut off as she enters the kitchen and sees the two embracing. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Josie snaps angrily and turns quickly on her heels, exiting as quickly as she entered.

“Josie, wait!” MG calls after her uselessly, his arms still lightly draped around Penelope’s shoulders.

“Whoops.” Penelope says in feigned remorse, glancing at the empty space Josie had just occupied.

MG swears under his breath and takes his arms from around Penelope, stepping back a little as he does. The tension MG had just lost quickly returns to his body.

“You know this wouldn’t happen if her friends didn’t drag her to parties she didn’t want to go to.” Penelope says, sincere irritation mixing with her sarcastic facade.

“Since when do you care?” MG snaps harshly, harsher than he meant.

All of the humor and sarcasm drops from Penelope’s face, leaving only a slightly furrowed brow and an almost sad look in her eyes. “MG, you know, I always care.” Penelope asserts seriously.

MG sighs and his shoulders sag. “I know, Pen.” MG says in a soft, resigned tone. “But you’re not allowed to care anymore, so just stay out of it.” He sighs again, turning toward the door. “I’ve got to go see if I can catch her.”

Penelope nods, but calls to him when he reaches the door, “MG, if you need to talk some more, just knock on my door, okay?”

He nods and gives a small smile in parting before slipping out the door.


	9. Crisis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh, God,” Alaric sighs. “What’s missing?”
> 
> “A centuries old knife, origins unknown.”
> 
> “Shit. Do we have any idea what happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little short, but, hey, at least Alaric is a competent adult.
> 
> Tumblr: @Werederg

Josie practically runs out of the kitchen and back out into the courtyard. She can feel tears pricking at her eyes and forces them back. She can’t be this upset about this. She knows Penelope and MG stayed friends after their break up, and she had said she was fine with it. She can’t go back on that now and she’s certainly not going to cry about it. That would be ridiculous.

Josie plunges back into the party, trying to find something to distract herself. Luckily, Josie runs right into a tipsy Lizzie calling her name.

“Josie!” Lizzie stumbles over to her sister, slinging an arm around Josie’s shoulder to keep herself from falling over. “I’m ready to go home now,” Lizze says, too loudly. “Take me home, please.”

Josie takes the distraction gratefully. “Okay, Liz, let’s go,” Josie says sweetly, wrapping an arm around her sister’s waist to keep her steady.

“See, didn’t I tell you it would be fun, Jo. Best party ever!” Lizzie slurs a little too close to Josie’s ear.

“You say that about every party.” Josie says, rolling her eyes.

Josie leads Lizzie back to their shared dorm room. She helps Lizzie change with some difficulty and eventually gets her into her own bed. As Josie goes to start her own night time routine, she feels a hand stop her by tugging on her wrist. Lizzie lets out a soft whine in protest and Josie rolls her eyes, but ultimately caves and lays down next to her sister.

“Thanks for coming with me tonight, Jo,” Lizzie murmurs as she slips off into sleep.

Josie waits a few minutes before carefully crawling out of her sister’s loose embrace to go get herself ready for bed. She thinks for a moment that her dad should have been there to say goodnight to them already. Not that it is uncommon for him to be late. He probably fell asleep at his desk again.

Dr. Saltzman had only nodded off for a little bit, his head resting on half finished paperwork, when a knock sounds at his office door. He jolts upright with a few mumbled sounds. The top sheet of paper he had been working sticks to his face for a moment before he removes it.

“Yeah, come on in,” Dr. Saltzman calls groggily.

The door opens and on the other side is the very concerned face of the librarian/archivist of school’s collection of magical resources.

“Alaric, we may have a situation,” He says, his expression saying that there is definitely no maybe about it.

“What is it, Dorian?” Dr. Saltzman asks, getting up out of his chair.

“You should come down and see. It’s in the main library.”

Alaric nods and follows Dorian out of the office. When they reach the library, Dorian leads him to a display case, a previously intact display case. The glass is shattered and there something is clearly missing.

“Oh, God,” Alaric sighs. “What’s missing?”

“A centuries old knife, origins unknown.”

“Shit. Do we have any idea what happened?”

“Here’s the thing, that’s not the only thing that’s happened tonight. Earlier I got a call from Butch, because you didn’t pick up.” Dorian gives him a look.

“Whoops, sorry.” Alaric says guiltily.

“Anyways, Butch said that she’s got Rafael in her office right now saying that he got Landon out of the barrier spell and then lost track of him and now he hasn’t seen him for a few hours. And I’m wondering if maybe these two things are connected.”

“Shit! Okay, we can do this. Dorian, throw the school into lockdown procedure and call an assembly of the secondary school students. Contact the teachers and deans, tell them to come down and start asking around for when the last time anyone saw Landon was, and which way he might have gone. I’ll call our field scouts and have them check to see if anyone has seen him in the places he might have gone. And we’ll go from there.” Alaric rattled off quickly, his voice steady despite the obvious fear in his eyes.

“Alright.” Dorian says, quickly heading out of the room.

Alaric stares at the broken display case for a long moment. “Shit,” He swears once more before pulling out his phone and beginning to dial.

As Alaric is leaving the main admin building, heading over to where the secondary students are assembled, Hope comes running up to him.

“Dr. Saltzman, what the hell is going on?” Hope says as soon as she is within ear shot. From the bags under her eyes, Alaric can guess that she hadn’t been sleeping before the lockdown was announced.

“Hope, why aren’t you with everyone else?” Alaric says, avoiding the anxious look in Hope’s piercing gaze.

“Because I’m not, answer my question,” Hope demands.

“Hope, you are a student, albeit a much more powerful student, but still a student like everyone else. You will find out at the assembly with everyone else.” Alaric says sternly, although it was tempting to crack under the pressure of Hope’s death glare. “Now, if you want to know, I suggest you join the rest of the students,” Alaric says, brushing past Hope.

Hope mumbles something under her breath and follows.

When they both arrive at the assembly hall, all of the students are sitting in the seats, most turned in their chairs to talk to those around them. There is a general din that dies down as soon as Dr. Saltzman enters the room. Hope silently takes a seat in the back, while Alaric talks to one of the teachers.

“What have you told them so far?” Alaric whispers to the teacher closest to him.

“Just that we’re in lockdown and that we’re looking for someone matching Landon’s description,” The teacher responds. “No one has seen him since the last time Rafael did, which was two hours ago.”

Alaric nods and heads over to the podium at the front of the room. Almost every set of eyes follows him as he walks up. When Alaric reaches the podium, he clears his throat and the whole room seems to freeze in anticipation.

“Good evening, students. Thank you for coming easily and on such short notice. I will make sure your teachers give you the day off tomorrow so that you can sleep in after all of this.”

There is a slight happy murmur from the crowd at that. Alaric waits a moment for it to pass before continuing.

“Now I’m sure you all have a lot of questions and I will do my best to answer as many as I can, so please bear with me. I know it’s late, so I will try to get this done as quickly as possible. Firstly, as of 15 minutes ago, the school is in lockdown. A quick reminder on what that means: No visitors, no leaving campus, and please refrain from discussing the situation over social media, even if it is indirect. If you have any extenuating circumstances please talk to one of the deans. The staff and I greatly appreciate your cooperation while we are dealing with this.

“Of course, I’m sure the much more pressing issue on all of your minds is  _ why _ we are in a lockdown. This morning we brought in a new student, but unfortunately in the process of bringing them in a human bystander witnessed things they should not have. This required us to bring him back to be compelled, but for unknown reasons, the human was not able to be compelled. We intended for him to remain secured while we determined why he could not be compelled, but unfortunately due to the poor forethought of a few students, he was released, unsupervised, and at some point during the night, left campus. In the same period of time, our librarian, Dorian, discovered that an artifact had gone missing from the main library, an old knife of unknown origin and abilities. We believe it is likely that the human brought in this morning was the one to take the knife, therefore giving him reason to flee.

“By now, I hope you can see the gravity of the situation before us. Not only do we have an unregulated entity with knowledge of our existence out in the human world, which risks our exposure with every passing hour, but we have lost track of a centuries old knife whose abilities are completely unknown to us. For the next couple of days, the staff will be working tirelessly to catch the unregulated entity and return the knife before any damage can be done. As is common with a lockdown, classes will be halted to allow teachers to help work toward ending the dangerous situation we find ourselves in. If anyone has any information about where the human or possibly the knife was seen last night, please let your dean know. Any information will be extremely helpful, so please don’t hesitate.

“I would like to end this by reiterating that this school is a safe place and everyone within these walls is dedicated to keeping you kids safe. If you are feeling unsafe, anxious, or stressed, I encourage you to talk to someone. Our counselors have many open spots in their schedules, so please don’t be afraid to use them as a resource. Thank you so much for handling this lockdown maturely and calmly, and let us all hope it will be over soon. Have a good night and don’t forget to get some sleep.”

The students begin to file out of the room before Dr. Saltzman has finished his last sentence. He can’t really blame them. Most of them have been in lockdown before and don’t think much of it by now. It hurts Alaric’s heart how used to being in danger these children are. He tries harder everyday to change that, to create a world where they don’t have to worry about their lives being endangered.

Alaric doles out a few more instructions to the teachers left in the room before heading off to his own room, an exhaustion headache pounding behind his ears.

“What the hell, Dr. Saltzman?” Hope’s voice calls from behind Dr. Saltzman about two seconds after he steps out the doors.

Alaric stops in his tracks and sighs, rubbing his eyes roughly with his hands. He doesn’t know why he thought he could just go back to his room and get some sleep. There is always something he forgets to deal with.

“Yes, Hope, can I help you?” Dr. Saltzman doesn’t mean to sound as exasperated and irritated as he does, and he regrets it when he sees Hope recoil a little from his tone.

“What was that? You made Landon sound like a villain in there! You can’t even prove he actually stole the knife, but you’re already condemning him.” Hope argues, a defensive edge to her voice.

“If he didn’t do anything, Hope, than why did he run?” Dr. Saltzman challenges.

Hope stumbles over her next few words, clearly not having a good counter argument. “I don’t know, Dr. Saltzman, but I’m sure there’s a reason. I know him, he doesn’t want to hurt anybody.” Hope insists despite losing the fire previously behind her words.

Dr. Saltzman sighs. “Hope, I know you want to believe he’s innocent, and that’s fine, but I don’t have that luxury. Whatever happens, whether is was all just a misunderstanding or he secretly wants to kill us all, I need to be sure that we are prepared to handle it so I can keep these kids safe. I know you like him, but we have to entertain the worst case scenario and keep our feelings out of it so no one gets hurt. Do you understand?”

Hope seems to deflate under Dr. Saltzman’s words. “Yes, I understand.”

“Good, now there’s not much we can do right now, so please go and get some sleep. I’ll update you in the morning.”

Hope nods in agreement, even though she knows her restlessness will prevent her from getting much sleep. Dr. Saltzman waves goodbye and the two part ways. Hope still has about a hundred other questions, but she can see how much Dr. Saltzman needs to rest, so she lets them go until the morning. 


	10. Reaching out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I have a way to shorten this whole lockdown thing and bring Landon back here sooner, but I need help.” When Josie only continues to look at the girl warily, Hope continues, “It’s technically black magic, but it’s just a locator spell that, unfortunately, requires two people to perform.” Hope’s tone makes it very clear that she would not be asking unless she really had no other choice.
> 
> “We're not supposed to do black magic. It’s banned.”
> 
> “Says the girl who just lit her ex on fire.”

Josie walks out of the assembly looking forward to making her way back into her bed. She had let Lizzie stay asleep in their shared room, figuring that she could just tell her sister what was going on later. Josie had been awake when they called for the assembly because she had been staying up to wait for their dad to come say good night, but considering all that was going on, it had clearly been a lost cause from the start.

Josie is stopped in her tracks only a few yards out the door by someone calling her name from behind her. She turns to see MG jogging towards her, an apologetic look on his face. She sighs and waits for him to reach her.

“Josie, hey.” MG says, lamely.

Josie crosses her arms and gives him a weak glare. “What do you want?” Josie says, her voice coming out more timid and tired than she means it to.

“I’m sorry. I really am. I know I said I wouldn’t leave you by yourself and I did, I’m sorry. I was just having a really bad night. I was talking with Kaleb and he was making me feel worse about the compelling thing. And I had already talked to you about it earlier and I didn’t want to bother you again.”

“MG, you know I’m never bothered when you want to talk,” Josie says, already feeling her anger at MG dissolve away. “And I know you guys are friends, but why  _ her _ ?”

MG shrugs. “You know she has that way about her when she talks to you. She can make you feel like you’re the most important person in the world, like you’re the only one that matters.”

“I just don’t see why she can’t stay out of my life.” Josie laments angrily, having already accepted her friend’s apology.

MG just gives her another shrug and opens up his arms for a hug. Josie smiles a little and steps into his embrace. They break after a few seconds and MG waves goodbye as he heads off to his dorm, promising that they will hang out soon.

Josie is about to continue on her own path to bed, when she is stopped in her tracks by a familiar lilting laugh. A few yards away, Penelope laughs at a joke made by one of her friends, and it snaps some small band of restraint inside Josie. How dare she laugh and hang out with her friends while Josie is still hurting from their break up?  _ How dare she try and take MG from her? Hasn’t she taken enough from Josie? Hasn’t she done enough? _

A deep anger fills Josie’s head, resentment at all the pain one person could cause her. Josie glares at her ex a few yards away, her jaw clenching and her heart hurting. Then a dark impulse bubbles up from the depths of Josie’s pain, a desire to even the score. And before Josie knows it a fire spell is falling from her lips and Penelope’s arm is on fire. 

The girls around Penelope shriek and attempt to put the fire out. Hearing the fearful cry of her fellow students brings Josie crashing back into reality. Her eyes go wide in horror and her lungs feel tight. She hopes and prays that no one saw her as she runs and hides on the other side of the nearest building. She tries to take deep breaths, pressing her back into the brick wall to ground herself.

“Josie?” Hope Mikaelson appears from around the corner of the wall, a concerned, surprised look on her face. Hope looks Josie up and down for a moment, before saying, ”Do you want to go to your room?”

Josie manages to shake her head. “Lizzie is there,” She says between short breaths.

“My room?”

Josie nods. She doesn’t think she’s ever been inside Hope’s room before, but right now she just needs to be somewhere else. Josie starts walking forward, knowing exactly where Hope’s room is. Hope follows behind her quickly, placing a firm but gentle hand on Josie’s back to help keep her grounded.

When they arrive at Hope’s room, Hope opens the door and lets Josie inside. Once they are both inside, Hope closes the door behind them. She looks up to see Josie standing awkwardly in the middle of her room, her hands fidgeting nervously and her eyes still wide in disbelief.

“Are you okay?” Hope says, retrieving a desk chair for Josie to sit in.

“Yeah, I think so.” Josie says, taking the chair. Josie’s breathing has slowed and steadied to normal as they walked to Hope’s room, but her voice still quavers with anxiety. “I can’t believe I did that. What was I thinking? I could have seriously hurt someone,” Josie says, her expression deeply distressed.

“It was a well executed spell, though,” Hope adds awkwardly.

“Not helpful,” Josie snaps, anxiously.

“Sorry.”

Josie winces. “No, I’m sorry, I just have no idea what I’m doing right now or what just happened. I’m just freaking out a little bit.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure Penelope will be fine. If we’re lucky it might’ve even deflated her ego a little.”

Josie laughs a little at that, her anxiety faltering thanks to the joke and Hope’s reassurance. “You’re not wrong.”  
“Do you think you’ll be okay then?” Hope asks, a little bluntly.

“Yeah, sorry about this. I’ll get out of your hair,” Josie sighs, “thanks, though, Hope. I appreciate the save, and could you maybe not mention this to anyone?” Josie gets up and moves to leave.

Hope awkwardly blocks her path. “Yeah, of course, but, um, I was actually looking for you earlier. I need your help with something.”

Josie gives Hope a suspicious look. “What?” Josie asks, warily.

“I have a way to shorten this whole lockdown thing and bring Landon back here sooner, but I need help.” When Josie only continues to look at the girl warily, Hope continues, “It’s technically black magic, but it’s just a locator spell that, unfortunately, requires two people to perform.” Hope’s tone makes it very clear that she would not be asking unless she really had no other choice.

“We're not supposed to do black magic. It’s banned.”

“Says the girl who just lit her ex on fire.” Hope murmurs off handedly. When she sees Josie’s eyes widen in horror again at the words, she regrets saying it. “Sorry, I just meant that I didn’t think you’d be afraid of it.”

“Why me though? Why not someone like Penelope Park? She has more of a reputation for breaking the rules than I do,” Josie says bitterly.

“True, but Penelope Park is obnoxious and if I wanted her help, I’d probably have to sell my soul to get it.” 

Josie laughs out loud at that. “It’s good to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t think she’s everything she says she is.”

Hope smiles slightly with Josie and waits a moment before continuing with the thing that is really on her mind. “So, will you help me?”

“Yeah, I will.” 

“Okay, I just need a minute to get the supplies together, then we can do it here.”

“Okay, I’m going to go check on Lizzie, I’ll be back,” Josie says, heading out the door.

Butch is cleaning up her desk for the night when her door flies open with the type of force and energy only an angry werewolf could manage. She thinks it’s a good thing she got those hinges re enforced, considering how often she deals with angry werewolves. Butch calmly raises her head from her work to see Rafael barreling into her office, hands clenched into fists and ourtrage in his eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Rafael growls out, pushing a chair angrily out of his way. “You want to know why Landon ran? God, I wonder if it was because you were trying to erase his fucking memories!” Rafael slams his hands down on Butch’s desk, glaring at the dean angrily.

“I think you’re right, Rafael,” Butch says evenly, causing Rafael’s anger to falter slightly. “Erasing someone’s memories is a very intrusive thing to do that strips them of their agency, and if your brother knew that was going to happen, it would give him a very good reason to leave without warning.”

“Yeah,” Rafael says, seemingly trying to recalibrate his angered response. “So why the hell would you do something like that? What kind of fucked up place is this?”

“I understand where your concerns are coming from, Rafael. To be fair, I know very little about how Landon was treated while he was here, and that is likely an issue that needs to be brought up. However, Rafael, please consider the position the school is in. Having Landon go back to human society with knowledge of supernaturals presents a huge security risk, whether he intends to keep it a secret or not. Mistakes happen and a few wrong timed words could endanger all of the kids at this school and could result in war between the human and supernatural worlds. The safest thing for both the school and your brother is to cut his ties to the supernatural.”

Rafael’s anger deflates against Butch’s calm, compassionate explanation. “I guess, but it’s still fucked up.” Rafael mumbles. He looks sheepishly around him for a moment before picking up the chair he knocked over and taking a seat in it.

“I don’t disagree. Unfortunately, the world can be like that sometimes. Like when you lose someone in your life and end up with a supernatural curse because of it.” Butch says, giving Rafael a sympathetic look.

Rafael scoffs under his breath. “Yeah, I guess life is just fucked up,” Raf says bitterly, no humor in his voice.

Butch watches Rafael stare darkly down at the floor, tears in his eyes that he is clearly struggling to hide. Butch remembers what that feels like, to think that life is a lost cause full of nothing but pain and cruelty. It makes her heart ache.

“ _ Ay _ ,  _ Pobrecito _ , it gets better, trust me,” Butch says kindly. “And tomorrow morning I’ll make sure to talk to the headmaster about how he’s handling this situation. He’s a little out of touch, but he’s a reasonable man. I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to your brother once we find him.”

Rafael takes a shaky breath before getting up. “Thank you,” He says, his voice forcibly steady.

Butch walks out from behind her desk. She places a gentle hand on Raf’s shoulder. “It’s my pleasure, Rafael. I’m always here if you need me.”

There is a beat of silence between them and then Rafael’s arms wrap around Butch in a tight embrace. Butch is startled for a fraction of a second before moving to hold the boy tightly until, after a long moment, he eventually pulls away, stealthily wiping at his eyes as he does.

“_Buenas_ _noche_, Rafael. If you need anything else, come find me,” Butch says.

Just as Rafael is turning to leave, a small knock bounces off the door frame. Penelope Park is standing in the doorway, a hand on her hip and her hair slightly singed.

“Penelope, hi,” Butch says, surprised. She gives Rafael one last wave goodbye as he slips past Penelope.

“Hey, Butch.” Penelope says, her usual confident smile on her face as she saunters into Butch’s office. She is clearly comfortable around the werewolf dean and her office space.

“What’s up?” Butch furrows her brow at the burnt ends of Penelope’s hair.

“I’m here to inform you that the human kid you’re looking for left the school around 10:30 tonight and that he exited out of the main gates when he did,” Penelope says, a smug smile on her face as she sits casually on the armrest of a chair.

“That’s great, Penelope.” Butch exclaims, turning around and grabbing a pad of paper to quickly jot down the information. “I’ll get that to the scouts as soon as possible, thank you,” Butch pauses before adding, “Although I do have some questions.”

Penelope flashes a knowing smirk. “Please, ask away,” Penelope says with a dramatic flourish of her hand.

Butch rolls her eyes at the girl’s performance. “Do you know if he went anywhere else on campus before leaving?”

“No, I didn’t really care.”

Butch nods and places her pad of paper back on her desk. Then she looks back up at Penelope, raising an eyebrow. “Why did you come here instead of talking to your own dean?”

Penelope shrugs. “I like you better,” She answers simply.

“Fair. One more question because you should really get back to your dorm. What the hell happened to your hair?” Butch breaks her general composure and snorts at the uneven burnt ends of Penelope’s hair.

Penelope glares at Butch a little, touching her hair self-consciously. “I had a little accident with a fire spell.” Penelope says, her carefully cultivated composure faltering slightly.

“I can see that.” Butch says trying to stifle another laugh.

Penelope rolls her eyes, trying to look unbothered. After a moment, she asks quietly, “I was actually wondering who you get to do your hair normally.”

“I think that was a compliment,” Butch says with a laugh. “I’ll give you his number. He lives a few towns over, but he does house calls.” 

Butch offers up a piece of paper that Penelope takes with mumbled thanks. Butch then shoes Penelope off to her own dorm and calls one of the field scouts to give them the new information before heading off to her room for the night.


	11. Bad News, Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Morning, girls,” Alaric calls gently to the two lumps wrapped up in blankets. 
> 
> They respond with identical annoyed groans. Alaric chuckles. After a brief moment, Josie sits up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
> 
> “Dad?” Josie mumbles, causing Lizzie to also drag herself into a semi-upright position. “What are you doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used a lot of Lizzie's original dialogue for part of this, because honestly I don't think I can match the completely extra and ridiculous energy the original stuff has. Thanks for reading!  
Oh, also, I haven't said this yet, but shoutout to my mom who helped me proofread all of this! But, no shoutout to my brother who is now several chapters behind.
> 
> Tumblr: @Werederg

The next morning, Dr. Saltzman heads off to his office first thing, only bothering to change his clothes from the previous night. As he makes his way over, Alaric makes a mental list of all the things he has to do today. The list is longer than he expects.

When Alaric reaches his office he finds a tired Dorian looking for him already. Alaric imagines his friend has stayed up late last night doing research on the missing artifact, probably taking up several tables in the staff library. Alaric makes a mental note to give Dorian a bonus at the end of the month.

“Alaric, you’re up, good,” Dorian says in greeting. “There are about three to four people looking to talk to you as soon as possible.”

“Lovely,” Alaric says, sarcastically. “Who needs me?”

“Butch wants to talk to you before you head out to find Landon.“

“Okay,” Alaric says, grabbing a notepad and writing it down. “What else?”

“Hope is looking for you, but is currently indisposed by, I assume, the same reason as to why Emma needs to talk to you. They are both in Emma’s office right now.”

Alaric sighs. “Great, what did she do this time?” 

“I can’t say, but I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough. Also one of our scouts called, they talked to the nearest bus station, and they said they saw Landon there, but they wouldn’t let us take a look at the camera footage or tell us what bus ticket he bought without any official authority backing us up.”

“Did someone call Sheriff Donovan then?”

“Yes, he said he was busy and that we are not his priority.”

“Like I’m not busy. Well, we’ll talk with him once this is all over.”

“Who are you going to deal with first?”

Alaric takes a deep breath and has to force his next words out despite his own internal protests. “None of them. First I’m going to say good morning to my daughters. Tell Butch I will come find her when I’m done.”

Dorian raises an eyebrow, but Alaric is out of the door before he can say anything else.

Neither Josie nor Lizzie is awake when Alaric gets to their shared dorm room, which makes sense considering the late night. Alaric knocks lightly on their door and after receiving no answer, he opens the door and walks in.

“Morning, girls,” Alaric calls gently to the two lumps wrapped up in blankets. 

They respond with identical annoyed groans. Alaric chuckles. After a brief moment, Josie sits up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Dad?” Josie mumbles, causing Lizzie to also drag herself into a semi-upright position. “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a father wake up his beloved daughters, of whom he loves very much.”

The raised eyebrows of the twins show that neither ‘beloved daughter’ believes him.

“I’m trying, okay,” Alaric relents. “But, I do actually have a few things to talk to you girls about.” Alaric has the decency to look a little embarrassed.

“Of course,” Lizzie huffs, with an irritated roll of her eyes.

“What is it, Dad?” Josie asks amiably, but there is disappointment in her eyes as well.

“Despite the lockdown, the flag football game today will not be cancelled, but we need to be attentive, with the Mystic Wolves coming on campus.”

“Okay, that’s good, then we won’t have to reschedule,” Josie says, sounding vaguely confused, clearly expecting to be given bad news.

“That’s the good news,” Alaric continues. “The bad news is that due to an incident at last week’s soccer game, where a werewolf lost focus and accidently sent the ball two blocks down the next street, I’m going to need you girls to be especially careful when playing today. In fact, it would do the school a lot of good if you guys would lay low and maybe,” Alaric hesitates, anticipating the reaction on the other end of his sentence, “try and lose.”

“What?” Lizzie whines in outrage. “But, Dad, I’m head QB this year and we’re actually good with Kaleb on the team. And the Wolves are such dicks when they win.”

“Lizzie, language,” Alaric scolds weakly. “And I know it’s hard, but we need to lie low right now, especially with everything that’s happening with the lockdown. We can’t afford another crisis. Please girls.”

Josie nods and after a long moment Lizzie reluctantly agrees as well.

“Thank you,” Alaric says, giving each daughter a kiss on the head, receiving identical eye rolls in response. “I love you both so much. I’ll see you when I get back.”

“When you get back?” Josie asks suddenly, her eyes going wide.

Alaric freezes. He knew he forgot something.

“You mean you’re not even coming to the game?” Lizzie cries out. “But Dad, you’re the coach!”

Alaric winces. “I’m sorry girls, I really am, but I need to be out in the field today to catch Landon. Dorian will be there along with the student coach, so it will be fine. I’ll see you when I get back.” Alaric gives each girl a quick one armed hug before retreating out of the room with one more apologetic look thrown at the disappointed faces behind him.

Hope had woken up early that morning, preparing to march up to Dr. Saltzman, brandishing the information she gained from her locator spell the previous night. She knows what bus Landon took so they can figure out where he is now. But before Hope can even make it three steps inside the admin building she is being dragged into the head counselor’s office.

Now Hope sits across from the head counselor, Emma. The woman watches her expectantly. Hope glares back, refusing to break the silence. Hope knows she’s only been sitting there for less than a minute, but every second that ticks away is one more that Landon has ahead of them, where he could be in danger.  _ Or putting others in danger _ , Dr. Saltzman’s voice plays devils advocate in her head. Hope’s leg bounces impatiently.

“So...” Emma prompts.

Hope scowls at her.

Emma sighs and shakes her head, seeing again that Hope is woefully unwilling to work with her. “Hope, I’m trying to give you a chance to explain to me what happened last night. I’m not here to punish you. I just want to understand.”

Hope says nothing, though if anything her glare becomes more intense with irritation.

“Well, okay then. As I’m sure you’re aware, I was alerted to the fact that you performed black magic last night in your dorm room, with blatant disregard for the rules of this institution.” Emma says, with a gentle disapproving tone.

“Yeah, so I could track down a  _ threat _ to this institution,” Hope snaps, “One that gets further away with every wasted second.”

“I understand your concern, Hope, but this is a school full of professionals who know what they are doing. You are a student here, Hope, it is not your responsibility to protect this school and no one is expecting you to. I have long since been telling Alaric that I think it is unwise to utilize you the way he does for missions. Despite the fact that you are very capable, you should be treated like any other student. Which is why I will recommend the headmaster punish you as he would a regular student found performing black magic.”

Hope scoffs and rolls her eyes. “It’s not like there’s anything at stake here,” Hope grumbles sarcastically, a sharp edge to her voice.

“Considering you are clearly choosing to willfully misunderstand what I am saying, I’m going to move on,” Emma says with a soft sigh. “Was there anyone who helped you with the spell?” Emma asks, knowing that for many reasons a yes was extremely unlikely.

“No,” Hope snaps quickly. “Can I go now?”

“Normally, I would prefer to detain you until the headmaster can come and speak with you, but considering the situation, I suppose you will find your way to him anyways.” Emma relents, speaking a quick spell under her breath to swing her door open for Hope.

Hope scowls at the way Emma acts like she is so predictable, like she knows Hope at all. Hope moves to exit the room, letting the frustrated energy built up in her bones propel her forward.

“Oh, and Hope?” Emma calls when Hope is halfway to the door. “I hope you are aware that none of this is your fault.”

There is a flash of vulnerability in Hope’s eyes as she looks back at Emma, that is quickly replaced by an irritated glare as Hope storms her way out of the room.

After Alaric has left his daughters’ room, the twins sit in silence for a long moment. The air is tense with their shared disappointment and frustration, though the tension is certainly thicker on Lizzie’s side of the room. 

Lizzie’s hands are clenched tightly in her lap, fingernails digging into her palms in a way that will definitely leave a mark. She takes sharp breaths through her gritted teeth, eyes squeezed shut like she’s focusing. Her emotions are palpable in the air around her, almost seeming to vibrate with uncontrolled magical energy.

“Lizzie?” Josie calls to her sister in concern. Josie knows the signs of Lizzie approaching an episode, even though it has been a while since she’s had one.

“I got it, Jo. Just give me a minute.” Lizzie hisses harshly through her clenched jaw.

Josie waits in silence, watching Lizzie anxiously. The energy in the air rises and falls in an irregular rhythm and Josie holds her breath every time the energy spikes dangerously. After a long moment, the vibrations fall away and Lizzie relaxes with one final shaky breath.

“You know what, Jo? This is an opportunity,” Lizzie says brightly, her voice slowly returning to its usual positive and determined tone. “We can use this to show Dad that he can trust us no matter what, that he can come to us in times of need. Instead of always looking for  _ Hope _ when there’s a problem.” There is a sharp edge of resentment when Lizzie says Hope’s name. “We are going to lose more epically than than anyone has ever lost before,” Lizzie declares with a dramatic air.

“That’s the spirit. Win by losing,” Josie says with a small smile.

“Well, I’m going to go shower,” Lizzie says, grabbing some supplies before heading out the door.

The twins complete their morning routines before meeting up again to head down to breakfast. Lizzie is already wearing her jersey for the game when she meets back up with Josie. Lizzie’s overly enthusiastic energy contrasts starkly with her sister’s subdued, and, frankly, sickly looking demeanor.

“Alright, let’s hit the dining hall and carb load. It’s game day!” Lizzie says brightly as they descend the stairs. She doesn’t appear to notice Josie’s lack of energy at all. “We should get the whole team to eat together this morning for team bonding.”

“I’m actually not that hungry,” Josie murmurs, trying not to derail her sister’s excitement.

Lizzie stops in her tracks giving Josie an accusatory look.

“What?”

“Oh, well, funny thing actually,  _ Josette _ . This morning when I was desperately trying to make this trash bag of a jersey look cute, I suddenly had the urge to purge. So, I fled to the bowl, and, lo and behold, I heaved up a gallon of black goo. So seeing as I haven’t been dabbling in any illicit black magic recently, I can only imagine it was a twin sympathy hurl. And now here you are denying the day’s most important meal,” Lizzie concludes, clearly proud of her deduction. “So, fess up, what did you do?”

“Maybe you’re pregnant, Lizzie,” An obnoxiously familiar voice calls from behind them.

Both twins turn around to see Penelope Park, who is leaning casually against a wall with an arrogant smirk on her face. Lizzie glares venomously at the girl, taking a protective step between Penelope and Josie. Josie doesn’t meet Penelope’s probing gaze, looking guiltily down at her feet. Josie gets just enough of a look at Penelope to see that she’s gotten a haircut, a fact that sends a stab of guilt into her stomach.

“Or, maybe it’s just the way that jersey fits,” Penelope says, giving a mocking look of sympathy.

“_Excuse_ _me_.” Lizzie snaps in outrage, her fists clenching at her sides.

Josie puts a hand on her sister’s shoulder to keep her from getting any closer to Penelope and doing something she would regret. Josie’s gaze flicks to meet Penelope’s for a brief second before she says, “Go away, Evil one.” The insult is half-hearted, lacking any sort of sting or anger on Josie’s part. If anything, Josie only sounds tired.

Penelope’s gaze softens an imperceptible amount. “Already gone,” She says, pushing off of the wall to walk past them. As Penelope nears Josie, she leans in conspiratorially and whispers, “Hot tip, though, Jojo, next time you burn off you ex’s hair, make sure she can’t rock a lob.” Penelope leaves the twins with one final smirk and a toss of her newly cut hair.

“What did she say?” Lizzie asks immediately after Penelope is gone.

“Nothing, just another annoying jab,” Josie says with a shake of her head, trying to ignore the way her face heats up, both from Penelope’s proximity and from the mention of what she had done the previous night.

Lizzie rolls her eyes. “Makes sense. Doesn’t she have anything better to do? It’s pathetic really,” Lizzie sneers as they continue on their way to the dining hall. “And, honestly, for someone who dumped you like yesterday’s trash, she sure doesn’t seem to be able to get over you.”

Josie winces a little at the mention of their break up, but she is at least glad that Lizzie is focusing on something else. Josie really isn’t ready to try and explain that last night she performed black magic with Hope, one of Lizzie’s least favorite people in the world. Hopefully, Lizzie won’t remember to ask her about it until Josie has found a good way to breach the subject.

When they reach the dining hall, they meet up with MG and grab some food. They can’t find any more of their teammates, though that makes sense considering nobody really gets up early when they have the day off. They talk strategy for the upcoming game and eat as more bleary eyed students slowly make their way into the dining hall.


	12. The Bus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m sure you noticed that there’s a passenger missing from the bus.” Donovan looks down at the report in his hands. “A Landon Kirby. Is that your boy?”
> 
> “Yes, that’s who we’re looking for,” Alaric confirms.

Alaric thankfully finds Butch in her office when he arrives there. It’s always nice when people are where they are supposed to be. It saves time.

“You wanted to see me, Kayla?” Alaric says, poking his head through the ajar door.

“Alaric, yes, please come in,” Butch says, quickly shaking herself out of her work. “There’s something we need to talk about, but I’ll try to make it as brief as possible.”

Alaric takes a seat and Butch proceeds to give a short summary of her encounter with Rafael the previous night.

“I’m sure you can see why he might be concerned, and how that would concern me as well,” Butch concludes.

“Yes, I agree, this is a difficult situation to be dealing with,” Alaric says, clearly not seeing Butch’s point.

“Right, except, I’m not sure you do agree, sir. What I’m trying to say is that this is a difficult situation and I think you are handling it wrong,” Butch says evenly, then quickly adds,”sir.”

“Oh, okay,” Alaric says, trying to stop himself from bristling at the criticism. “And what would you suggest I do differently?” There is a bit of an edge to Alaric’s voice under his polite tone.

“Well, I think that the protocol for this type of situation needs to be discussed further to prevent future problems like this, but obviously that will have to wait until we are done dealing with our current problem. However I think that the way we are approaching the objective right now is too harsh and is bound to end in a confrontation instead of de escalation, which is not ideal. I think the issue comes with the fact that all of the people engaging in objective are relatively hostile and militaristic in their approach.”

“What are you getting at, Butch?” Alaric says, knowing that Butch is dancing around the thing she actually wants to say.

Butch takes a deep breath to reorganize her thoughts before starting again. “Sir, I would seriously recommend taking Rafael with you to go confront Landon. Landon trusts Rafael and is more likely to be cooperative if he is there.”

Alaric is silent for a moment. “Butch, I understand where you’re coming from here, but I can’t do that. Rafael is a student, a new werewolf no less. I don’t know what we’re going to be walking into with Landon and I can’t afford to have an unpredictable, inexperienced kid there. Students can’t be out in the field. They’re a liability,” Alaric explains.

Butch watches her boss for a long moment before deciding what to say next. “I have a question then.”

“Okay.” 

“Is Hope coming on this mission?” 

Alaric groans softly, knowing that he’s being called out on his hypocrisy. “I am not allowing Hope to accompany me on this mission,” Alaric says, matter of factly, although not convincingly.

“Okay, and is it likely that she will badger into changing your mind before you leave?”

Alaric sighs. “I suppose that is a possibility,” Alaric admits reluctantly, “but it’s not the same situation.”

“Isn’t it? Both are students. Both have a history of behavioral problems. And I don’t know Hope as well as you do, but I’m pretty sure both of them have an emotional connection with Landon that could prove dangerous given the wrong situation. Am I wrong?”

“No, you are right.”

“I’ll make you a deal then, sir. If Hope ends up going, Rafael goes as well. It’s only fair.”

“Alright,” Alaric says after a moment’s deliberation. The two shake hands and Alaric gets up to leave. “You’re good at your job, Butch. Everyday you remind me of why I hired you.” Alaric says, before heading out the door.

“Thank you, sir.”

After leaving Butch’s office, Alaric heads off to find Emma. He quickly checks the schedule outside the head counselor’s door, to make sure she’s not in a session, before knocking on the wood panel.

“Come in.” Emma’s voice calls from inside.

“Hi, Emma. An eventful morning we have here, huh?” Alaric says as he walks into Emma’s office.

“Yes, indeed. I suppose you are here to talk about Hope.”

“Yes, as briefly as you can if possible.”

“Oh, well, okay, if brief is what you are looking for then, it’s quite simple. Hope performed black magic on school grounds last night. I could’ve suggested leniency if she had agreed to discuss the issue with me, but she was not cooperative, as usual.”

Alaric sighs, not an ounce of surprise in his reaction. “Do you know what spell she did or why?”

“Not exactly, but I do believe it has something to do with the missing boy.”

“Of course,” Alaric says, running a hand over his face. “Well, thank you, I will talk to her.”

“I don’t suppose I should bother to tell you what I think a reasonable punishment should be.” Emma says, giving Alaric a knowing look.

Alaric gives a small embarrassed smile. “I really do appreciate your counsel Emma, and one of these days I will actually take your advice.” Alaric moves to leave. 

When Alaric opens the door, he finds Hope on the other side of it, a determined expression on her face and, frankly, blatant irritation.

“Hope, I believe we need to have a few words.” Alaric says, sternly.

“Yeah, I’ve been looking for you all morning,” Hope says, immediately starting to walk to Dr. Saltzman’s office.

Alaric follows quickly behind her, struggling to surpass Hope in an attempt to not look like he’s being led to his own office by a student.

“Emma told me that you did black magic last night,” Alaric begins once they have entered his office.

“Yeah, I did a locator spell.”

“Hope, you know that’s against the rules, and--” Alaric pauses abruptly. “Wait, does that mean you know where Landon is?” Alaric says, his need to find Landon betraying his attempt at discipline.

“I know what bus he got on and that something happened last night with the knife.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, I couldn’t tell. It looked like it was glowing, but I only got a glimpse.”

Alaric’s mind has already forgotten about lecturing Hope, and has moved quickly onto his most urgent mission, finding Landon. “What bus?” He asks, his mind whirling, as he moves to his desk to piece his next steps together.

Hope silently hands him a piece of paper with all the information she learned from the spell on it. Alaric takes it quickly, simultaneously picking up the phone on his desk and dialing a number. With the phone receiver cradled between his neck and his shoulder and the paper in one hand, Alaric uses his one free hand to dig in his pocket and pull out a set of keys.

“Go get the car started, I’ll be down once I update the scouts,” Alaric says, turning to Hope. Then he adds, “But don’t think I’ve forgotten about this whole black magic thing. We will talk about it when we get back.”

Hope nods and slips out the door. She hurries down and out of the building to where Dr. Saltzman’s car is parked. Leaning up against the car, however, she finds Rafael.

“What are you doing here?” Hope asks, her tone immediately suspicious and a little hostile.

“I’m coming with you,” Rafael says, gesturing to the car next to him.

“Uh, Rafael, that’s not a good idea. We can handle this. I know you are worried about Landon, but--”

“Yeah, I am worried about Landon. He’s my best friend, my brother, and no offense, but I don’t exactly trust you guys. I mean you are the reason he ran,” Rafael says, standing up straight and taking a step toward Hope.

Hope scoffs. “He ran because you let him out!” Hope snaps in response.

“Because he’s not an animal to be locked up!” Rafael says, his voice rising in anger.

Hope doesn’t back down even though Rafael towers over her. She opens her mouth to give a rebuttal, but is stopped when Dr. Saltzman comes down the drive. Hope shoots him an expectant glare.

“He’s coming with, Hope,” Dr. Saltzman says quickly, loading a few bags into the back of the truck.

“What?” Hope snaps indignantly.

“I’m not asking for your input, Hope. He’s coming with us,” Dr. Saltzman repeats sternly. “Get in the car.”

Rafael and Hope follow the instructions, Hope claiming the passenger seat. As soon as Dr. Saltzman joins them in the driver’s seat, Hope is already arguing again.

“Why does he get to come? I have to argue with you for like 30 minutes every time I go on a mission, but for him it’s one second and you’re just: oh yeah sure, he can come,” Hope says, glaring at Dr. Saltzman.

“Well, Hope, you don’t exactly leave me with enough energy to argue with anyone else,” Dr. Saltzman counters calmly as he pulls out of the driveway.

Hope mumbles something more under her breath, but doesn’t push any further. After only a few moments, Dr. Saltzman receives a call on his cell phone.

“Oh, good,” Dr. Saltzman murmurs, answering the call and bringing it up to his ear with one hand. “We’re just heading out now. What have you got for me, Nadia?” He listens for a long moment. “Okay, we’ll check it out. Meet us there as soon as possible. Okay, bye.”

“What was that?” Rafael asks from the back seat after a moment.

“It was one of our scouts. Apparently, the bus Landon got on didn’t make it to it’s next stop. We haven’t been able to get in contact with the state troopers about where it broke down, but the scouts made an estimation along the route. That’s where we’re heading.”

They drive the rest of the way in relative silence, only broken up by a few other phone calls that Alaric receives. Eventually they come to a blocked off part of the road where a bus has come to a stop halfway across the right most lane and the shoulder. There is police tape and fencing and officers directing traffic around the obstruction. Alaric comes to a stop a few yards away, watching carefully to see if there are any officers he recognizes.

Dr. Saltzman gets out of the car and turns to tell Hope and Rafael to stay put while he talks to the officers, but Hope is already out of the vehicle be the time he turns around. He sighs and quickly motions for Rafael to come with them. As the three of them make their way over, Alaric spots a familiar face approaching him.

“Sheriff Donovan,” Alaric greets the uniformed man.

“Good morning, Alaric,” The Sheriff says. “What brings you out here today?”

“We’re looking for a missing student who ran off campus last night.”

Sheriff Donovan raises an eyebrow. “You think your missing student might have something to do with what’s happened here?”

“That is a possibility, we have reason to believe that he was on that bus. What happened?”

Donovan’s eyes darken. “It’s probably better if I just show you. Might not want to bring the kids along though.”

Alaric casts a glance at Hope and Rafael, both of them giving him a stubborn look. It’ll save time if he doesn’t argue with them. “It’ll be fine, Sheriff. Just lead the way.”

“Okay, but just know it’s not a pretty picture,” Donovan says forebodingly as he turns and heads off toward the bus.

They pass a few scattered officers bagging evidence around the bus. There is broken glass strewn across a large portion of the road, some of it noticeably cracked and singed. There is a smell coming off the bus that stings the back of the nostrils and causes bile to rise in the back of the throat. Alaric is almost positive that he is familiar with the pungent smell, and a small pit of dread forms in his stomach.

“The smell only gets worse from here, and there’s a lot of debris, so here,” Donovan says, handing each of them a white breathing mask.

They each put on their masks and follow Donovan onto the bus, Alaric going first, followed closely by Hope. Donovan hesitates at the final step. Then he brings his gaze down to the dirty floor and lets Alaric pass him, clearly unwilling to reexperience whatever is inside the bus. 

The window frames of the bus are devoid of windows, save a few shards of glass. The early morning sun, streams through the glassless openings to illuminate the passenger seats. Almost every single seat is occupied by a charred, rotting corpse, the dark hollows of their eyes staring blindly ahead from under burnt wisps of hair. The warm sunlight bathes the tragedy in an ironic heavenly glow.

“Jesus,” Alaric breaths out in horror.

Hope behind him says nothing, just stares ahead with intense and unreadable expression. Rafael, craning his head to see from where he stands in the stairwell, looks horrified and sick, his face pale and his swallows thick.

Donovan notices Rafael’s reaction and slips past Hope and Alaric to lead him out. Rafael barely acknowledges Donovan’s hand on his shoulder, guiding him down and out of the bus. Donovan takes the boy’s mask and hands him a brown paper bag just in time for Rafael’s breakfast to come back up. Donovan watches sympathetically as the boy vomits, shaking his head at the two still left on the bus. Donovan didn’t think he would ever understand someone who could stomach that kind of thing.

On the bus, Hope breaks out of her trance before Dr. Saltzman. She gingerly steps further inside the bus, trying to avoid large pieces of glass and fallen parts of corpses. Her eyes scan the numbers on the seats until she comes to the one she’s looking for. She finds an empty seat under the number and she’s not sure if her heart relaxes or if the vice on it grows tighter. 

“He’s not here, Dr. Saltzman.” Hope calls back to Alaric as she makes her way back to the door.

Dr. Saltzman nods and lets Hope pass him to exit first. He places a protective hand on her shoulder instinctively, guiding her out of the bus.

When they both make it back outside the bus, Donovan pulls Alaric off to the side to talk to him and Hope gravitates toward Rafael.

As soon as Rafael sees Hope come out, his eyes go wide. His gaze becomes scared, his body language expressing the inevitable question. “Hope, is he…?” Rafael asks weakly, barely managing to get the words out.

Hope shakes her head, “He’s not in there.”

Rafael lets out a slow breath of relief. A little bit of color comes back to his face and he stands up a little straighter.

Donovan casts a concerned glance at Rafael before turning to address Alaric off to the side. “I’m sure you noticed that there’s a passenger missing from the bus.” Donovan looks down at the report in his hands. “A Landon Kirby. Is that your boy?”

“Yes, that’s who we’re looking for,” Alaric confirms.

“Well, he shouldn’t be too hard to find, there are some pretty noticeable tracks heading into the woods.”

“You didn’t go after him already?”

“Honestly, I sort of expected you to show up with something like this so I held off a little bit. Didn’t want to get my guys into something they couldn’t handle.” Donovan pauses, casting an anxious glance back at the bus. “Alaric, do you think that kid could have done this?”

“At this point, we really don’t know.”

Donovan furrows his brow. “What even is this kid?”

“That we also don’t know yet.”

“Jesus Christ, Alaric, I thought you had this under control. We made a deal, I help you keep your supernatural secret and you make sure shit like this doesn’t happen.”

“I know, Donovan, I’m doing the best I can. We’ve never faced anything like this before.”

“Well, you need to try harder.” Donovan stops and sighs. “I’ll tell the papers it was a gas leak. But once you figure out what did do this, I better be getting a phone call. I need to know what I’m facing out here.”

“Of course, thank you, Sheriff,” Alaric says before heading back to Hope and Rafael. The two students are waiting for him expectantly, both trying to look unaffected by tragedy they had just witnessed. A wave of guilt washes over Alaric, knowing that they will never be able to unsee what they’ve seen today.

“What did he say?” Hope asks as soon as Dr. Saltzman is within earshot.

“He said that it should be fairly simple to track Landon. He left some obvious tracks heading into the woods. We should head out now, if you guys are feeling up to it. Otherwise we can wait until the scouts get here.”

“No.” Hope and Rafael say in unison. It causes them to stop and look at each other for a moment before Hope continues for the both of them.

“We need to find him as soon as possible, Dr. Saltzman.” Hope insists.

Alaric sighs. “ I just want to make sure the two of you are okay,” Alaric says with pointed look in Rafael’s direction.

“I’m fine. I need to make sure that Landon isn’t in danger,” Rafael says determinedly.

Hope and Dr. Saltzman share a look, both of them understanding that it’s possible that Landon is not the one in danger.

“Okay, let’s go grab my duffle bag and then we’ll go in,” Alaric says, heading back in the direction of the car.


	13. Um, there's a dragon and a football game I guess?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Landon,” Rafael breaths out as his brother runs into his arms. Rafael folds his arms around Landon in an almost crushing embrace, but he can’t help it, especially not with the way Landon clings to him just as tightly.
> 
> “Holy hell. Raf, how did you find me?” Landon says, voice full of relief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays Everybody!!!  
I'm really happy with this chapter, so I hope you guys like it. I won't be posting next week because of New Years, but I will be back the week after. Hope you all have a good holiday season!
> 
> Tumblr: @Werederg

“Dr. Saltzman, are you sure he’d still be out here? He had plenty of time to run,” Hope says as the three of them make their way into the forest, Alaric leading the way.

“You’re kidding, right?” Rafael replies. “Between the shit you guys put him through and that shit on the bus, he’s got to be freaking the fuck out. And when Landon freaks out, he shuts down.” Rafael casts a worried glance into the woods around him. “There’s no way he got far.”

“How can you be so sure?” Hope counters defensively.

“Because I know him.” Rafael insists aggressively.

Their argument is sharply cut off Dr. Saltzman shushing them.

“Do you hear that?” Alaric whispers. They all fall silent for a moment as a human-like rustling comes from their left. Alaric suddenly bursts into a sprint toward the sound, leaving Hope and Rafael to run after him. Although considering both Hope and Rafael have supernatural speed, it’s not hard for them to catch up.

Alaric skids to a halt in front of a disoriented woman covered in ash hiding behind a tree. She looks up at him frightened.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” Alaric says quickly, holding his hands up and keeping his distance. When Hope and Rafael come from behind him, he motions for them to back up behind him.

The woman takes a few steps back. She doesn’t seem to understand Alaric.

“Were you on the bus?” Alaric asks. After receiving no response he tries again, “Can you tell us what happened, so we can help you?”

“Is she a survivor?” Hope asks.

Alaric turns to face Hope and Rafael. “I don’t know. I think she’s in shock. I need to get her to the police. You two can keep following the trail, but if you find Landon, don’t engage. And make sure to keep your phones handy.”

“Wait, so if Landon is in trouble, you just want us to stand there and wait?” Rafael asks sharply.

“Yes, _ don’t engage _.” Alaric repeats sternly, giving both Rafael and Hope a pointed look, before returning his attention back to the woman. He slowly coaxes her into following him and the two groups head off in opposite directions.

“Ugh, I always forget that _ Satan _ is the student coach. Not that she usually shows up to anything.” Lizzie sneers as Penelope Park makes her way across the football field dressed stylishly in school spirit.

Lizzie, MG, Josie and a few other players are on the sidelines working to set up the stands for spectators. Across the field, Dorian is making sure everything is ready for the other team to show up, grumbling under his breath about this not being in his job description.

“Morning Stallions,” Penelope greets as she nears the group of players. Her tone is artificially sweet and suggestive. “Can I suggest a warm up?”

Lizzie glares at her, while both MG and Josie try to avoid eye contact. Kaleb looks at the interaction with a raised eyebrow from where he sits, stretching. He rolls his eyes and grabs the ball next to him, as he gets to his feet.

“Yeah, let’s get that arm warmed up, QB,” Kaleb says before tossing Lizzie the ball and taking a few steps back.

Lizzie catches the ball awkwardly, caught off guard a little. She shoots Penelope one last glare and proceeds to throw the ball back to Kaleb. Penelope only responds with an amused smirk before making her way over to where Josie and MG have started stretching.

Penelope comes up from behind MG and places a hand on his shoulder, her eyes locked on Josie, who is pointedly ignoring her.

“Love the pigtails, Jojo. Mind if I borrow your receiver for a second?” Penelope says smugly.

Josie visibly tenses, but she says nothing and refuses to meet Penelope’s gaze, only responding with a shrug.

“Great,” Penelope says, leading MG away.

Once they reach a reasonable distance away, MG turns to Penelope. “Geez, Pen, are you trying to get me killed?” MG says, casting an anxious glance back at Josie. Although his gaze drifts almost unconsciously to where Lizzie is practicing and lingers there. 

Penelope rolls her eyes at her friend’s fixation on the objectively worse twin. “I just wanted to check in after last night, MG. Plus, I think I’m in much more danger than you are.” Penelope flips her hair off her shoulder reflexively.

MG narrows his eyes at Penelope. “Wait, did you get a haircut since I last saw you?”

Penelope startles almost imperceptibly at the question. She transitions her expression smoothly into a confident smirk and gives a practiced laugh. “I’ve got to keep you on your toes, don’t I?”

MG looks at Penelope for a moment, scrutinizing her reaction. He doesn’t seem convinced, but he moves on. “Well, anyways, I am feeling better today. Josie forgave me for being a bad friend last night and I sent the rest of my emails out this morning, so things are going good.”

“I’m glad.” Penelope responds, sporting a rare genuine smile.

“Oh, although there was something I wanted your help with today--” MG starts, but is cut off by Lizzie calling sharply from behind him.

“Shake the lead out, MG, we’re running a play!” 

“And so the wicked witch calls, I wouldn’t keep her waiting.” Penelope says mockingly, her voice laced with disdain.

MG gives Penelope a disapproving look, but hurries off to join the line up. The team runs a few basic plays, which go moderately well. They are clearly not very skilled, save for Kaleb, who, with his muscular build and confident movements, looks much more suited to being decked out in real pads and a helmet than with flags dangling around his waist. After a few minutes, Lizzie and Josie call the team off to the sidelines.

“I loved what I was seeing out there, guys! We have gotten leagues better, especially with Kaleb on the team now.” Lizzie addresses the students gathered around her. Kaleb rolls his eyes at her comment, mumbling something about his back being sore from carrying the team. “But unfortunately, we have some bad news about the game today...Josie?” Lizzie turns to her sister, prompting Josie to be the bearer of bad news.

Josie freezes, clearly not expecting her sister to do this. Her mouth goes dry as everyone’s eyes fall on her. 

“Oh, that’s okay, Stallions, you guys always did make loser look good.” Penelope suddenly interjects, her voice patronizing and sarcastic. She makes a show of looking around at everyone’s surprised faces, and giving a fake little gasp. “Oh, did you guys not know, Admin needs the team to throw today’s game, so that no one thinks anything supernatural is going on here. What a shame. Well, at least when you lose today you can pretend it was on purpose,” Penelope says with a smirk before sauntering away.

The team bursts out in an uproar with Josie and Lizzie quickly trying to calm down and reassure their teammates.

“This is ridiculous, man. I was getting recruited by D1 schools before I got here,” Kaleb says next to MG. “I used to eat townie scrubs like these for lunch back at my old school and we were playing real football. I mean, come on, let me keep some of my dignity.”

MG nods absently, not really understanding what Kaleb is talking about. “Yeah, but, we all have to make sacrifices, Kaleb. It’s just one game.”

Kaleb scoffs. “Well, maybe you like being emasculated, but I’d like to keep my balls, so no thanks.”

MG cringes at Kaleb’s choice of words, but Kaleb doesn’t seem to notice, wandering off to complain to someone that will agree with him.

After a few more seconds, the twins manage to get the team to calm down a little.

“Alright, guys. Guys! Quiet please.” Josie says, not really managing to raise her voice very much. “I know it’s hard, but this is about our safety and the safety of the school, so we need to take it seriously. If you can’t do that then, don’t play. Okay? Now, it’s almost time for the Mystic Wolves to be arriving so let's double check everything is ready.”

The team disperses with a series of irritated grumbles. Lizzie stays by Josie’s side, and after a moment turns to her sister and scoffs.

“God, _ Satan _ just has to make everything harder. Why did she even bother to show up?” Lizzie says, scowling at Penelope several yards away.

Josie nods in agreement and turns to look in Penelope’s direction, which just so happens to be the moment that Penelope turns to look at her. They hold each other’s gaze for a long moment, both of their faces impassive. Then Penelope winks and throws a suggestive smirk at Josie before breaking eye contact to, presumably, go and cause mayhem somewhere else.

Josie breathes out a sharp breath and tries to shake off the weird feeling building up in her chest. “Don’t let her get to you. Let’s just go greet the visiting team, I think their bus just arrived.” Josie says to Lizzie, pointing out the yellow school bus that has pulled up nearby.

“Yeah, as if Dana and the rest of those neanderthals are any better than the devil herself,” Lizzie sneers as the two approach the group of rowdy teens dressed in red and black uniforms that have begun to spill out of the bus.

Hope and Rafael navigate forest in tense silence. The only sounds are the forest around them and the snap of twigs underfoot.

“I don’t know how you just go along with whatever he says.” Rafael mutters after a few moments. “I mean I like to think for myself, but, hey, whatever works.”

Hope lets out an irritated sigh. “Dr. Saltzman’s been doing this for a long time. He knows what he’s doing,” Hope says, impassively.

“Could’ve fooled me.” 

Hope stops in her tracks and turns on Rafael. “Do you have a problem? Because you don’t have to be here,” Hope snaps.

“Yeah, I’ve got some crazy ass people coming in and screwing up my whole goddamn life, so yeah, I’ve got a problem. I’ve got a problem with being transferred into your preppy ass piece of shit school. And I’ve got a problem with you locking up my brother and keeping him from me, and not telling me you were trying to erase his goddamned memories. And I’m just trying to make sense of all this crazy shit, but every time I think I’ve got it even a little bit, it just gets crazier! and I never asked for any of this!” Rafael’s voice raises emotionally.

There is a brief look understanding in Hope’s eyes. “None of us did,” She says quietly.

Rafael seems to deflate a little at this, realizing that Hope is not responsible for all of the bad things that have happened to him so far. “And yeah, I do have to be here. I’m not going to let Landon’s safety be in the hands of a bunch of weird ass people I don’t trust.”

“Okay, fine,” Hope says harshly, “but you don’t have to act like we’re enemies here. We want the same thing.”

“I’m not sure I trust that either,” Rafael counters. “Even it I did believe that you care about Landon, that’s not the only thing you want. You want that stupid knife too. Just because we might agree on one thing, doesn’t mean we have the same priorities. And I can’t trust that.”

Hope says nothing in response. They continue forward along the trail in silence for a few minutes before Rafael speaks again.

“Listen, I’ll make you a deal. When we find him, just let me go in first and make sure he’s okay. I’ll make sure you get your knife, and whatever answers you want. But after that, I don’t want you interrogating him or any shit like that, okay?”

“And why should I trust you?”

“Because I don’t lie.”

Hope laughs a sharp, humorless laugh. She shakes her head and her gaze falls to the ground, darkening with something like sadness or even regret. “Everybody lies,” Hope asserts softly, her tone resigned.

Rafael feels a wave of sympathy as Hope refuses to meet his eyes. Rafael has been through some shit in his life, but even he still manages to have faith in people sometimes. It makes him wonder what’s happened to Hope in her life to make her laugh at the idea of truth.

Rafael’s thoughts are cut off as he spots something in the forest ahead. “Hey, is that a house or something?”

“Looks like it. If any of the doors are unlocked, it’s likely he’s in there.” Hope says, moving to try a door off to the side. It rattles and creaks and shakes the whole structure, but whatever rusted chain is on the door stays put and no sounds come from inside.

“Hope, the cellar doors aren’t locked.” Rafael says, moving around the side of the house to find the wooden doors that lead down into the basement. Hope nods and follows.

They hesitate in front of the doors, the sudden grip of uncertainty halting their step.

“Hope, please, just let me go in first.” Rafael says, turning to Hope with an almost desperate look in his eyes.

Hope doesn’t answer for a moment, her expression unreadable. “Fine, you’ve got five minutes.”

“Thank you.” Rafael says quickly before he rushes down into the cellar. 

Rafael’s shoes scuffle on the dirty steps leading down into a dark room. There is shelving covered in an assortment of things Rafael couldn’t make out in the low light. There are also piles of miscellaneous objects lying around. Rafael squints into the darkness, taking a hesitant step forward. He thinks he can make out a figure crouched in the back corner.

“Landon?” Rafael calls apprehensively. “Are you in here?”

“Raf?” Landon’s voice calls out from the darkness, followed by rustling sounds as the dark figure gets to its feet.

Rafael winces at the fear in his brother’s voice. The rough edge to Landon’s voice also tells Rafael that it was likely Landon had not gotten any sleep and had been crying.

“Landon,” Rafael breaths out as his brother runs into his arms. Rafael folds his arms around Landon in an almost crushing embrace, but he can’t help it, especially not with the way Landon clings to him just as tightly.

“Holy hell. Raf, how did you find me?” Landon says, voice full of relief.

“The school’s looking for you. I came with because I didn’t trust them.” Rafael withdraws a little from the embrace, his arms still bracketing Landon’s shoulders protectively. “What the hell happened, man?”

“I-” Landon is quickly cut off by the sounds of someone else entering the cellar behind them.

Rafael turns to see Hope climbing down the stairs. “What the hell, you said I had five minutes,” Rafael says, glaring at the girl.

Hope just shrugs and says, “like I said, everybody lies.” She enters into the cellar, but doesn’t come very far in. Her movements are hesitant, her gaze locked on Landon.

“Hope,” Landon breathes out anxiously.

Rafael can see his brother tense at the sight of Hope and it makes him want to just push her back out of the cellar. He settles for a bit of a glare in her direction.

“Hope, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why I took that knife. I don’t even know what it is or how I found it. I-”

“It’s okay, Landon. Can you tell me what happened on the bus?” Hope says, calm and detached.

Landon freezes, his gaze filling with fresh fear. “There, uh, there was this woman, who could… she could breathe fire.” Landon says, looking like he didn’t quite believe it himself. 

At that moment, the cellar doors swing open and close as quickly as humanly possible, a disorientated Alaric stumbling down the steps. His eyes are wide and his breath is heavy like he’d been running, and one of the sleeves of his shirt is slightly singed. He turns to them to say something, but Hope cuts him off before he can say anything.

“Let me guess, fire-breathing woman,” Hope says.

Alaric’s expression shifts from shock to confusion. “Yeah, how did you know?” Alaric asks, clearly dumbfounded.

Hope gestures in Landon’s direction.

“Oh,” Alaric says, his eyes finding Landon in realization, but he still looks completely disoriented. “She stole my phone.”

Hope rolls her eyes and pulls out her cell phone, handing it to Dr. Saltzman. He thanks her silently and begins dialing.

“I think I lost her on my way here. She must’ve been the one to attack the bus, but why?” Alaric says absently with the ringing phone held to his ear. He looks like he is about to say something else, but the call picks up and instead he addresses the other end of the phone.

“Nadia, hey, we’ve got an escalated situation… good, because we’ve got a fire-breathing woman on our end… No, I’m just about to call Dorian next to see what he can figure out.” There is only a few more words on the other end before Alaric hangs up and begins dialing again. Alaric wanders away a little from the kids to talk to Dorian, regularly casting worried glances at the closed cellar doors.

“Landon, is there anything else you can tell us?” Hope asks gently.

“I, uh, was just on the bus, um and then the knife started glowing and getting kind of hot. And then the bus stopped because there was a woman on the road, and then she started breathing fire and chasing me and it seemed like she wanted the knife.”

“Where is the knife, Landon?” Rafael says, still glued to his brother’s side protectively.

“I, uh, I don’t know. I was running around in circles last night trying to find a place to hide and I must’ve dropped it.” Landon answers, guiltily.

“You lost it?” Hope exclaims, trying to curb the frustration that rises in her chest. “Jesus Christ, Landon.”

Landon flinches slightly at Hope’s words, an action she misses as she turns around to address Dr. Saltzman. Rafael scowls at Hope and takes a little step between her and Landon.

Dr. Saltzman finishes his call and turns back to the kids. “Okay, so Dorian thinks the woman might be a pyromancer, but he’s not sure it quite fits so we need to be careful. Where’s the knife?”

“Landon lost it in the woods when she was chasing after him trying to take it,” Hope answers.

Dr. Saltzman sighs and grimaces. “Well, I guess, let’s go find it before she does, then.” He turns to head out the cellar doors.

They make their way slowly and carefully out of the cellar, Alaric poking his head out first to make sure the coast is clear. Hope and Alaric have made it out and Rafael is halfway through the doors when the woman appears rushing through the forest toward them.

The woman stops and her eyes lock on them. Alaric freezes, eyes wide. An inhuman kind of growl emanates from the woman’s throat, eyes predatory and sharp.

“Back in the cellar! Go, go!” Alaric orders sharply, spinning around and rushing them back down into the cellar. They stumble down the steps, Alaric closing the doors behind them. Only a few seconds after the doors are closed, the sound of roaring fire approaches and the wooden planks glow with the light of licking flames.

“Hope, doors.” Alaric instructs urgently.

Hope nods, casting a spell to diminish the flames.

“What the hell? Why is she coming at us?” Rafael says, breathing heavy.

There is a brief moment of silence, where Hope’s eyes flash with a realization and then darken dangerously, her sharp gaze landing on Landon. There is the distant sound of another shot of fire coming from outside the cellar, followed by a snarl.

“Seriously?” Hope snaps harshly, taking a step toward Landon. 

Landon looks nervous under Hope’s intense gaze, hands deep in his pockets. He shuffles backward anxiously, trying to make any words come out of his throat to explain, but he can barely manage to breath.

Hope rushes forward, hands gripping Landon’s shoulders as she slams him up against the back wall. “Where the hell is it?” Hope growls, anger and urgency in her voice.

Landon can’t breathe, the air coming in and out of his lungs in rapid ineffective puffs. He flinches back from Hope and tries to curl into himself. His mouth hangs open uselessly, only managing to make a soft whimper. His eyes shine with guilt and pain and fear.

Hope aggressively pats down Landon’s coat and then reaches her hand inside to retrieve the knife before spinning around to face Dr. Saltzman, not letting herself process Landon’s terrified reaction. Behind her, Rafael rushes to catch Landon as his knees buckle. Raf eases his brother to the floor and starts speaking softly to him, trying to help him calm down. He spares only one second to cast an outraged glare at Hope before turning his full attention back to Landon.

When Hope meets Dr. Saltzman’s eyes, they are wide with horror and concern, his mouth open in surprise. Hope, however, doesn’t register his reaction either, choosing instead to focus on the threat of heat pressing in from outside. If she keeps moving forward then what she’s already done won’t catch up to her.

“Dr. Saltzman, I’m going to go and distract it until we get back up.” Hope says, determinedly, moving toward the exit. 

“Hope--” Dr. Saltzman starts, but Hope is gone before he can even consider what he would’ve said.

Hope bursts through the cellar doors, which are currently on fire. She does a quick couple of spells to put out the fire again and close the doors behind her, before turning to face the fire-breathing woman before her.

“You want this, right?” Hope says, brandishing the knife.

The woman’s eyes light up and her throat makes a strange clicking sound as it begins to illuminate with embers.

“Then come and get it.” Hope says, sprinting off in one direction. She hears a roar behind her and rolls forward instinctively when she feels the heat on her back. She quickly gets back to her feet and keeps running, never looking back.


	14. God, we're just having a hard time, huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Any idea how to kill this thing, Dorian? This thing that doesn’t or at least shouldn’t exist,” Alaric says, unable to tear his eyes away from the dragon maneuvering it’s column of fire into a patch of unburned trees. Hope must still be alive it it’s still trying to attack her, right?
> 
> “Um, a sword and a buttload of courage? That’s the best I’ve got right now, I’ll keep looking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, a couple of things:  
1\. I've definitely only played flag football once in my life and it was bad, so just pretend I know what I'm talking about.  
2\. I really appreciate everyone who has left a kudos or a comment. You guys are all amazing! I really enjoy writing this and the fact that other people enjoy it too makes it just that much better.  
3\. So things in my life are getting kind of stressful. I'm not managing my anxiety very well right now and I've got a lot of deadlines coming up. The point being that I'm not going to be able to continue to post on a regular basis. I'm graduating high school in, like, 5 months, so it will all be over soon, but for the time being I'm not going to have a lot of time to write. I still love writing this and I have a lot of plans for the future of this fic, but life gets in the way, unfortunately. I'm still totally up for a chat if you want to talk legacies or whatever, so feel free to message me on Tumblr.   
Hope you have a good day!
> 
> Tumblr: @Werederg

“Lizzie, Josie, I’m going to have to leave for a bit. The Mystic Falls coach can lead the coin toss. I’ll be in the staff library if you need anything,” Dorian explains quickly just before the game was about to start.

“Wait, what?” Lizzie starts, but Dorian is already gone, clearly in a hurry.

Josie sighs. “I guess that leaves us with…” Josie finishes her statement with a vague gesture at where Penelope is leaning against the bleachers. Penelope notices them looking and gives a little wave, which Josie and Lizzie both scowl at.

“I’d rather have no coach than have _the_ _devil_ tell me what to do,” Lizzie sneers. “No, I amend that, I’d rather lose my right arm then have to listen to _her_. Wait, no, I would rather--”

Luckily, Lizzie’s increasingly insulting rant is cut short by a ref calling for the captains to line up. Josie, and Lizzie high five a few of their teammates before jogging to the center of the field. There they are met by two unfortunately familiar faces, Dumb Jock #1 (Connor) and Blonde Bitch (Dana), as Lizzie liked to call them.

“Alright, everybody, I want a good clean game today,” The Mystic Falls coach says blandly. The coach is a balding middle-aged man with a very pronounced beer belly, who is decked out in red and black Mystic Falls High merch.

“Like we do every year, when we beat your asses down,” Dumb Jock #1 sneers, high fiving his teammate. The insult also draws a snicker out of the coach, the man clearly entertained by his student’s antics.

Lizzie scoffs and opens her mouth to respond, but before she can, Josie interrupts her with a slight jab to the ribs and a pointed look. Lizzie settles for a scowl as her jaw tightens and her fingernails dig into her palm.

The coach gruffly clears his throat to cover up the fact that he had been laughing at the immature joke. “Anyways, let’s do the coin toss. Call it in the air,” he says, positioning a quarter in his hand.

“Tails never fails.” Blonde Bitch calls in a haughty tone.

The coach bends down to pick up the fallen coin. “I guess so, the Wolves start with the ball,” the coach says, straightening up. “Alright, shake hands and line up.”

Josie steps forward and moves to extend a hand to Dumb Jock #1, but instead of shaking her hand, Dumb Jock #1 walks forward into Josie to shoulder check her and send her stumbling a few steps back. Dumb Jock #1 laughs as Josie struggles to regain her balance at the unexpected assault, murmuring something to his coach as he walks off the field with an arrogant smirk. 

Josie looks to the coach for help, eyes wide with surprise. The coach says nothing at the interaction, only giving Josie a blank look when she catches his gaze. Josie’s gaze falls to the ground as she retreats back to her team’s side of the field.

Lizzie extends her hand out to Blonde Bitch at the same time. “Good luck out there,” Lizzie says, in a strained polite tone.

Blonde Bitch raises an eyebrow in contempt at Lizzie’s outstretched hand. “Thanks, but we don’t need luck, because we actually know how to play this game,” Blonde Bitch sneers with a laugh.

Lizzie retracts her hand like she’s been burned, glaring at Dana. She clenches her jaw to keep from responding to the other girl’s jab.

“I noticed your coach isn’t here today,” Blonde Bitch continues with false sympathy. “I guess he finally gave up on your pathetic excuse for a team.” Dana turns and leaves with a laugh.

Lizzie spins around, quickly heading back to join her team. Josie intercepts her, laying a hand on Lizzie’s tense shoulder and walking with her.

“God, I hate her and everyone on that team. I wish we could beat them just to rub it in their smug ugly faces,” Lizzie snaps angrily, fingernails digging deep into her palms.

“I know, Liz, but we’ve gotta be strong today. For dad, right?” Josie says, evenly.

Lizzie squeezes her eyes shut and shakes herself, like she’s trying to shake the anger off. “Right,” Lizzie agrees once she opens her eyes again, even though her gaze is still shooting daggers.

Lizzie and Josie make it back to where their team is waiting for instruction. Lizzie tells the defensive set to line up, which included Kaleb, and Josie, among others. They gather in a brief huddle, the attention on Lizzie.

“So, what’s the plan, Cap?” Kaleb asks, surprisingly earnestly for someone who rolls his eyes at the idea of having to play flag football.

“The plan is everybody needs look like they know what they are doing, and then...” Lizzie takes a dramatic breath as if it pains her to say it, “then we need to fail.”

A few of the other players start to complain, but Kaleb interrupts them, “Hey, hey! If the QB says that’s the play, that’s the play.” Kaleb holds several people’s gazes until they back down and then nods to Lizzie to continue.

Lizzie looks at Kaleb, a little surprised. “Uh, yeah, but hey guys, I know we can’t win today, but we sure as hell can look damn good while we lose, right? We’re amazing, whether their tiny brains can comprehend it or not! Stallions on three!” Lizzie says, managing, somehow, to stir up enthusiasm, both in herself and her teammates.

The players put their hands in the middle of the circle and chant, “1, 2, 3! Stallions!” before jogging off onto the field.

On the sideline, Penelope finds MG. She comes up next to him and grabs his water bottle out of his hands and takes a drink from it.

“Hey?” MG says, sounding more confused than upset.

“Hey,” Penelope says casually, not giving the water bottle back, “you were saying something earlier before you got interrupted by someone with the patience of a literal child.”

MG huffs, “Pen, I’ve asked you to lay off Lizzie before. I know you don’t like her, but she is my friend and it bothers me when you talk about her like that.”

“This is me laying off.”

“ _ Penelope _ .”

“Sorry, I’ll try harder,” Penelope says, but she rolls her eyes while she does. “Anyways what were you saying?”

MG takes a deep breath before explaining, “I’m trying to get Lizzie to maybe see me as more than a friend, but I’m not really sure what to do. I thought, maybe, you could help me with that because you’re really go at these kinds of things.”

Penelope scoffs. “Seriously, MG? You can do so much better, she’s not worth your time.”

MG scowls and grabs his water bottle back from Penelope. “Penelope, I already know how you feel about Lizzie, that’s not what I asked. I’m asking you for help, and you know usually friends help each other out.”

Penelope considers him a moment with a raised eyebrow and a frown. “Fine, but you owe me one.” Penelope relents.

MG’s eyes widen. “Wait, really? Oh, wow, I didn’t think it would be that easy to convince you.”

“Well, I’m just hoping that once she rejects you and makes you cry, you’ll realize that you’re better off without that silly crush of yours.”

“Wait, what makes you so sure that she’ll reject me. I mean, I know I think she’s out of my league, but based on the things you say, I didn’t think you agreed.”

“Oh, I don’t. You’re amazing, sweet, and handsome. I just think she’s not smart enough to realize that. If anything, you’re out of her league.”

MG laughs and shakes his head at the prospect. “So, what do you think I should do?” He asks, his gaze wandering over to the game. 

The two friends watch as the wolves catch the ball and run it straight into the end zone, few of the stallions “trying” and failing to grab at their flags. The wolves break out into a raucous cheer and a series of taunts after they score. One of the mystic falls players shoves Kaleb to the ground after the play has ended, the referee seemingly unbothered by this show of poor sportsmanship. The Stallions return to the sideline grumbling under their breath.

Penelope notices the way that Lizzie’s hands clench at her sides, her teeth grind almost audibly as she forces a positive look on her face. Penelope turns to MG with a smirk. “You’re on the offensive line up, right? Next play, show off.”

MG gives Penelope an uncertain look, but when she nods confidently, he agrees to the plan. MG jogs over to where the team is gathered.

“Alright, guys. That was so good. Keep it up.” Lizzie says, her voice short and clipped, her positive tone strained. “Offensive set is up. I’m going to throw it for this play, but you know, just don’t catch it.”

The new set heads out onto the field and Lizzie ends up bumping into Dana as they make their way to the line up.

“I’m surprised you guys haven’t given up yet. I guess you’re just used to losing.” Dana sneers.

Lizzie grits her teeth and says nothing. She moves to her position, calls out the play, and the ball is snapped back to her. Lizzie positions herself to throw as her team members run down the field to receive. Lizzie tries to focus on who looks the most open, but she can’t focus with Dana counting down aggressively at her.

Just as Dana is reaching her last mississippi, Lizzie sees MG far down the field escaping his defender with his arms open to receive a pass. Honestly, Lizzie doesn’t even think she can throw that far, so she throws toward MG right before Dana unnecessarily rams into her.

“ _ Sorry _ ,” Dana says insincerely as she gets off of Lizzie. She wipes the dirt off her hands over Lizzie.

Lizzie growls and gets to her feet just in time to see her pass reach MG. Her eyes go wide as she watches the boy’s hands catch the ball easily as he runs it into the end zone.

“Ha, yes!” Lizzie exclaims, caught up in the moment. “Suck it, Dana!”

Dana glares at Lizzie as she walks away to join her team.

Lizzie makes her way toward MG on the other side of the field, a wide smile on her face, until Josie catches her eye. Lizzie falters, reluctantly remembering that they were supposed to be losing this game.

MG turns to Lizzie, his face sporting a proud smile. His other teammates congratulate him as they return to the sidelines, but he’s focused on Lizzie’s reaction. He had heard her response when he made the touchdown and is excited and hopeful upon seeing her direct response.

“MG, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Lizzie scolds, scowling at MG. “We can’t win today, we’ve been over that.” There is an angry edge to Lizzie’s voice that shows more of her own anger at the situation than at MG.

“Oh, right, sorry,” MG mumbles, his smile dropping quickly as he looks guiltily down at the ground.

Josie comes jogging over from one side. “MG, hey, if you can’t lose today, you can’t play today, okay?” Josie says firmly.

“I know, sorry, guys. I just got caught up in the moment,” MG says, looking embarrassed.

“Well, be more careful,” Josie says, an anxious expression on her face. She turns and heads back to the sideline to set people up for the next play.

Both MG and Lizzie sigh once Josie is gone.

“It was a really good catch, though,” Lizzie says softly, looking at MG out of the corner of her eye. A slight smile ghosts her lips.

“Thanks, it was an amazing throw,” MG says back, smiling as he and Lizzie make their way back to the sideline.

A vice tightens around Dr. Saltzman’s heart as he watches Hope run into certain danger. He tries to call after her, but she is gone to fast, the fire-breathing woman with her. At least they know for sure that it’s the knife she wants.

A text buzzes on Hope’s phone in Dr. Saltzman’s hand. It’s one of the scouts saying that they’ve arrived. Alaric lets out a little breath before turning to where Landon and Rafael are on the ground behind him.

“Is he okay?” Alaric asks, watching Rafael attempt to steady his brother’s breathing. Landon is curled into himself, clutching his one of Rafael’s hands, his eyes squeezed shut as he struggles to take in air.

“We’re fine. I’ve got it,” Rafael snaps aggressively, eyeing Dr. Saltzman angrily.

“Okay, I’m going to meet with the scouts. I’ll have one of them keep an eye on you while we deal with this,” Alaric says.

Rafael says nothing in return, keeping his focus on Landon. Alaric quickly texts the scouts directions and waits for them outside the cellar, his gaze anxiously watching the forest around him. While he waits he also gets a call from Dorian about his progress on the research.

“I’ve got to go Dorian, the scouts are here. Text me if you figure anything out,” Alaric hangs up as he jogs over to meet his group of scouts. 

They are all carrying a bag of equipment similar to Alaric’s own duffle bag, presumably containing an assortment of weapons and other useful things. The scouts stop in front of him, waiting to be briefed on the situation.

“Okay, so Hope just ran off that way with the knife to distract the pyromancer. So we need to gear up and head out as soon as possible. Top priorities are to find and neutralize the threat, make sure the knife is in our possession, and get Hope out of combat, no matter what she tells you.”

“Okay, sounds good. What exactly are we looking for here, Alaric?” One of the scouts asks, crouching down to pull stuff out of their bag.

“It’s a dark skinned woman with dark hair that looks like she’s been pulled out of a fire rather recently. We’ll split up and blanket the area to find her. Call me if you find her and I’ll let everyone else know,” Alaric says, pulling a crossbow out of his own duffle bag.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounds through the whole forest, practically shaking all of the trees around them. Alaric turns to see what looks very much like a dragon breaking through the top of the trees a ways away. It roars and breathes fire down on the ground below it.

“Um, yeah, Alaric, I think I found it,” One of the scouts says sarcastically, eyes wide.

Alaric gives a small hysterical laugh, his eyes locked on the dragon setting fire to the forest around him as his mind whirls to figure out what he’s going to do next. “ _ Wiseass _ ,” Alaric mutters before turning to Nadia, a plan forming in his head. “Hey, Nadia, do you still have those harpoon guns.”

Nadia seems to catch what Alaric is suggesting, nodding. “Yeah, I think they’re in my trunk. A little spell or two and they might be dragon ready,” Nadia says, motioning for a few of the scouts to follow her back to her car.

Alaric tries to think of anything else they can do while also trying not to think about where Hope might be under all that fire. His thoughts are interrupted by the phone ringing in his pocket.

“Dorian? What’s up?” Alaric says, answering the call, his voice coming out a little panicked.

“Okay, so with what you told me about her stealing your phone and your watch. I’m thinking, and this is going to sound really ridiculous because these things don’t really exist, but maybe what you’re facing is---”

“A dragon,” Alaric cuts Dorian off. “Like a real fire breathing dragon.”

“Um, yeah, how did you know I was going to say that?”

“Well, let’s just say it doesn’t look like a woman anymore.”

“Oh, geez.”

“Any idea how to kill this thing, Dorian? This thing that doesn’t or at least shouldn’t exist,” Alaric says, unable to tear his eyes away from the dragon maneuvering it’s column of fire into a patch of unburned trees. Hope must still be alive it it’s still trying to attack her, right?

“Um, a sword and a buttload of courage? That’s the best I’ve got right now, I’ll keep looking.”

“Okay, let me know.” Alaric hangs up quickly, moving to help the scouts carry the stuff they just got out of Nadia’s car. It’s a set of three harpoons, complete with extra spools of rope and extra hooks. One of the scouts does an enchantment on the rope and another ties the already loaded rope together with the extra spools to increase distance.

Alaric thinks for a second and ties the other end of the ropes to the extra hooks for each harpoon. “Okay, let’s go,” Alaric says, starting to move before stopping almost immediately. “Oh, one of you guys needs to stay behind and watch the boys.” Alaric gestures to the cellar to indicate where they are.

A scout volunteers easily, probably hoping to not get barbequed. The rest of them head out running toward where the dragon is.

Hope is starting to get a little tired of dodging bursts of fire right about now. She stops and turns around to see the woman recharging with another throatful of flames. Hope waits until the very last minute to roll out of the way, feeling the heat against her side, so close to being painful. She gets back to her feet easily and faces the woman again.

“You missed me.” Hope taunts, the knife still clutched in one hand. Maybe if she can get close enough without being set on fire, she can get a hit in and bring her down. Hope can’t help but think of Dr. Saltzman telling her how stupid and dangerous that would be. Of course that doesn’t mean she’s not going to try.

The woman seems to be getting angrier with every passing minute, the aggressive growling coming from her throat is near constant now, spiking in volume every time she misses another shot of fire. Her expression is contorted into one of rage as she zeros in on Hope again.

Hope dodges the next blast of fire, moving a little bit closer to the woman as she does. The woman snaps her head to where Hope is now and snarls, baring her teeth.

“What, is it something I said?” Hope asks the woman sarcastically.

Suddenly, the woman starts to contort, her body bending in ways it shouldn’t have been able to. Her skin seems to bulge and peel back, exposing what Hope thought looked like scales. Hope scrambles back as enormous reptilian wings emerged from the woman’s torso. What is left of the woman rises into the air before losing all semblance of her previous form. 

Hope gapes at the dragon above her, almost dropping the knife in surprise. However, she has enough of her sense left to start running as soon she sees the first spark glow in the dragon’s chest cavity. Even sprinting at full speed, Hope struggles to escape the inferno chasing her, dodging around trees and jumping over roots before they are incinerated behind her. Hope is painfully aware that she can’t keep this up forever and hopes that Dr. Saltzman is coming soon.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright, that’s it!” Lizzie snaps aggressively at her teammates. “The gloves are off. We are going to burn these bitches to the ground!”
> 
> “Aw, hell yeah! That’s my quarterback!” Kaleb says excitedly, jumping up and clapping Lizzie on the back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guess who's still alive! Man, a lot has happened since I last posted on this fic. Hope you guys are all staying safe and healthy with the quarantine <3  
To be honest, I don't think I'll ever get this fic back on a consistent posting schedule, so from now on it will just be updated when I finish something (otherwise known as sporadically).  
Thanks to anyone who is still hanging onto this after I've been gone so long, you're amazing!!!

The score is 28-7, the Mystic Wolves with the obvious lead, when half time is called at the game. The Stallions file off the field to grab water and refuel, grumbling angrily all the way back to the bench.

“Man, this is just plain embarrassing,” Kaleb complains as he takes a drink from his water bottle.

“Well, yeah, but weren’t you the one saying we should all go along with whatever Lizzie says in the first place,” One of the other players points out irritably.

Kaleb gives the other kid a glare before smacking him in the chest probably a little harder than is necessary. “Yeah, but that’s because I’ve been playing football for over a third of my life and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the only thing worse than a team that doesn’t know how to play, is a team that doesn’t know how to work together. You could all be star players, but if nobody listens to the quarterback, then you’re not going to win. So, yeah, I’m running whatever play Lizzie says we’re running, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

The other kid only shrugs in response, probably not wanting to get hit again.

“Okay, I know you guys are upset, but we’re almost done, so let’s just push through the next half and then we can all walk away and pretend this never happened,” Lizzie addresses the team, lacking her usual enthusiasm.

“Should we do another count off, Lizzie?” MG asks, trying to be upbeat.

“Who cares? Let’s just get this over with,” Lizzie dismisses the idea irritably.

Once half time is over, the team lines back up on the field in an offensive set up. The whistle goes off and Lizzie is snapped the ball. She is vaguely aware of Dana yelling blitz and charging toward her. She throws the ball forward right before she feels Dana unnecessarily ram into her for like the fifth time that game.

Josie fails to catch Lizzie’s throw in the weakest way possible, deflecting it like she is scared of the ball, but Lizzie doesn’t really notice. She growls in frustration as she shoves Dana off of her and gets to her feet.

“You do realize that you’re not supposed to tackle in this game, right? Or are you too stupid to figure that out? It’s called  _ flag _ football, emphasis on the flag,” Lizzie snaps at Dana angrily.

Dana gives an obnoxious laughs in response. “Honestly, I really just get a kick out of tormenting the crazies. How many more tackles before you finally snap, huh, Lizzie?” Dana taunts, punctuating her words with a little extra push to Lizzie’s shoulder before walking back to her team’s side of the field, laughing.

If it hadn’t been for that part of the brain that stops you from doing something that it knows will hurt you, like biting down on your finger like a carrot, Lizzie probably would’ve shattered all of her teeth in that moment. Her breaths are ragged and forceful as she tries to stay in control of herself, her vision all but going red. Her hands clench so tightly at her sides, she’s sure there will be bruises on her palms there later. There is a dangerous, determined look in her eyes as she storms back to the sideline.

“Alright, that’s it!” Lizzie snaps aggressively at her teammates. “The gloves are off. We are going to  _ burn _ these bitches to the ground!”

“Aw, hell yeah! That’s my quarterback!” Kaleb says excitedly, jumping up and clapping Lizzie on the back. The rest of the team breaks out in similar raucous cheers, save for Josie.

“What, Lizzie? That’s not what we talked about,” Josie interjects, a worried expression on her face. “What about what dad said?”

Lizzie spins on her sister, that determined fire searing hot in her eyes. “Dad will get over it, Jo. We deserve to win! We deserve to show these assholes that we actually know how to play this goddamn game!”

Lizzie doesn’t wait for her sister’s response before corralling the offensive line up back onto the field. They do a quick huddle, Lizzie indicating the play they’re going to run, and then finish with a quick count off before lining up.

The ball is snapped and Lizzie fakes preparing for a throw before slipping the ball the Kaleb as he runs past her. By the time the Wolves realize that Kaleb has the ball, he’s already half way to the endzone with no one on him.

“Yes!” Lizzie cheers, pumping her fist in the air. “Who’s the loser now, Dana?” She taunts.

Dana scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Still you,” She sneers pointing out the scoreboard which now reads, 28-14.

Lizzie growls and heads back to collect her defensive line up. “Alright, guys, all we need to do is to keep them for scoring and we can surpass them in just a few plays. We can do this! Let’s show them who the real losers are!” Lizzie encourages as they run back onto the field.

The Wolves’ quarterback throws a short pass to one of their receivers, the one that MG is covering. As the opposing player starts to run to the endzone, MG lunges forward, his hands wrapping around one of the flag dangling from the player’s waist. MG appeared to have a good grip on the fabric, but it ends up slipping out of his hand, allowing the wolves to score.

“MG, what the hell was that?” Lizzie snaps in frustration as the score changes to 35-14 on the scoreboard.

“I don’t know, Liz. I really thought I had him,” MG says, his voice accidentally cracking as he cowers slightly away from Lizzie’s violent reaction.

Lizzie just rolls her eyes and stomps away.

The game keeps going for a few more plays. The Stallions get a couple more touchdowns, and an interception, but for some reason they can’t see to bring any of the Wolves down once they get the ball. The tension is palpable as the scores becomes closer and closer and the remaining time gets lower and lower.

At some point in between plays, MG realizes that Penelope hasn’t been around to steal his water bottle in a while and he needs a new piece of advice now that the game has changed. He finds Penelope loitering around the corner of the mostly empty bleachers on the Stallions side. Her arms are crossed over her chest and her brow is furrowed as she vaguely watches the the field.

“Hey, Pen!” MG calls as he jogs over. “So this is where you disappeared to. Come on, the game isn’t going so well, we could really use your help.”

Penelope scowls and turns to face MG. “And by we you actually mean Lizzie, right?” Penelope sneers. There is a harshness in her tone that is uncharacteristic of her usual unbothered demeanor.

“Um, no?” MG says uncertainly, taken aback by his friend’s hard tone. 

“Oh, please, MG, we both know you don’t really care about this game or anyone else on that team. The only thing you give a shit about it what  _ Lizzie _ thinks of you, and honestly it’s getting a little pathetic, so why don’t you just go and help yourself for once?” Penelope snaps.

MG furrows his brow and takes a step back from Penelope. His expression is confused and hurt, but also concerned. This isn’t like Penelope. If something is bothering her, she rarely lets it show unless it’s really bad. She’s not one for losing control of her emotions.

Upon seeing MG’s reaction, Penelope looks immediately regretful, some of the irritated lines on her face softening. She closes her eyes and grimaces, trying to get a hold of herself. 

“Fuck, I didn’t mean that, MG,” Penelope says with a sigh. There is still a scowl on her face, but it’s clearly not pointed at MG.

“Yeah, I figured,” MG says neutrally, taking a step back toward Penelope now that he is sure she’s not going to bite his head off. “Are you okay?” He asks gently.

“I just can’t be here right now,” Penelope mutters angrily, her gaze looking past MG at the rest of the team. 

MG frowns and follows Penelope’s gaze. He’s not surprised when it lands on where Josie is sitting on the bench, watching the game. Before MG can respond, Penelope continues.

“I know you said that I’m not allowed to care, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy for me to just sit here and watch her constantly let Lizzie overshadow her. I can’t stand to watch her put herself through hell just to avoid upsetting Lizzie even a little. I just don’t know why I came here today,” Penelope says harshly, unable to tear her gaze away from Josie.

Now that Penelope has pointed it out, MG starts to see what she means. Josie sits on the sidelines watching the game with an almost terrified expression on her face. She tenses up everytime the Stallions succeed at a play, chewing on her lip in a way that looks down right painful. When Lizzie comes back from the last play, Josie tries to reason with her again, but Lizzie dismisses completely her sister with only an irritated wave of her hand.

MG turns back to Penelope with a sigh. “She’s always worrying about something,” MG offers weakly.

“Yeah, but does Lizzie ever notice or care? Does Josie ever make her?”

“ _ Pen _ ,” MG warns, knowing how his friend could get, especially on this topic.

Penelope falls silent for a long moment, her piercing stare still focused on Josie. “You want to win this game, MG?” She says in this cold, focused voice that sends a little shiver down MG’s spine. A Penelope with a plan can be a dangerous thing.

Despite the obvious concern that MG has for Penelope’s state of mind, and Josie’s wellbeing, he is much more aware of the clock slowly counting down. They are running out of time to actually win this game. As much as MG cares about his friends, these are not new problems. Penelope has always hated Lizzie and been upset about the way she treats Josie, though it’s gotten more intense since the break up, and Josie has always been anxious and worried about something, no matter what they’re doing. But, the Salvatore Stallions have never been so close to a victory.

So despite the fact that he kind of hates himself for saying it, MG answers, “Yeah, Pen. What have you got?”

Penelope says nothing as she places a hand on MG’s shoulder and leads him away from the field, her eyes burning holes into the back of his head. MG is about to ask what is happening, when they reach the Mystic Wolves bus. Penelope does a quick spell to open up the back where the equipment is stored. MG furrows his brow as Penelope hands him a box of extra flag belts. On closer inspection, MG finds that all of the flags are tied to the belts instead of attached with velcro.

“What the hell! No wonder I didn’t get that guy’s flag. They’ve been cheating this whole time,” MG murmurs as he checks all of the belts, finding them all similarly rigged. After a moment, he turns back to Penelope. “I don’t get it, Pen. What are we going to do? Tattle on them?”

Penelope shakes her head. “There’s hardly anyone here today that would listen anyways. No, instead, why don’t we just even the playing field a little? If they’re going to fight dirty, then so will we,” Penelope says with a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Oh,” MG says, realizing what Penelope means.

Penelope walks around MG so that she’s behind him. She places her hands on his shoulders and moves to whisper right in his ear. “And how do you think Lizzie will feel about the bearer of good news?” 

“Hope!” Dr. Saltzman calls in relief when he spots Hope barreling toward them, the dragon hot on her tail.

Hope’s head snaps up to see the armed group of scouts behind Dr. Saltzman and she breaths out a sigh of relief. However that relief is short lived as she hears the creature’s great, leathery wings shift behind her and the tell tale clicking of the dragon preparing for another attack. Hope glances back and her eyes go wide when she realizes that it is not aiming for her.

Reacting on instinct, Hope lunges forward, falling to a knee in front of Dr. Saltzman as he skids to a halt, almost tripping over her. She throws her hands up urgently and grits out a shielding spell just as the column of fire starts to rush over them. Hope can hear Dr. Saltzman swear under his breath as they bear the wave of heat. After only second, Hope feels the two scouts that are witches add their own strength into the spell above them, which stabilizes the flickering edges of the shield.

Once the flames have passed over them, the dragon towering above makes a frustrated sound at seeing its victims unharmed. It seems to contemplate for a moment before, lifting its massive wings and maneuvering out of view. The action leaves a cold pit of uncertainty in Dr. Saltzman’s stomach.

Dr. Saltzman’s gaze shifts from the ominously empty sky to Hope as she releases the shielding spell. He can’t help but notice the way Hope pants from exertion and the slight shaking of her hands as she gets to her feet. Dr. Saltzman is forced to remember that for as strong as Hope is, she still has her limits. He moves to support Hope as she looks a bit unsteady on her feet.

“Are you okay, Hope?” Dr. Saltzman asks, face creased in concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s the plan?” Hope says, her voice strained, as she eyes the harpoons carried by the scouts.

“We’re going to try and tether it to the ground to reduce the damage it can do and to give Dorian some time to figure out how the hell we can kill it,” Dr. Saltzman explains, grimacing up at the absence in the sky. “We need to find a way to get it closer to the ground so we can actually hit it.”

“Easy, we can lure it down with the knife. That’s what it’s wants after all,” Hope says, brandishing the artifact in her hand.

Dr. Saltzman considers the idea. “But if this doesn’t work, then it will have what it wants and there will be a dragon on the loose with some unknown power in its possession,” He reasons.

“But, it’ll work, right?” Hope counters. “It’s not like we have a lot of options.”

“Right,” Dr. Saltzman says, furrowing his brow as he weighs the options. “We’ll have to risk it. Although, first we have to find the damn thing.”

“Alaric!” One of the scouts calls urgently.

Dr. Saltzman jerks his head up, immediately spotting what the scout is worried about. Above them, the great shadow of a diving dragon barrels down at them, talons stretched forward and a bloodcurdling growl coming from its throat.

“Oh, shit! Run!” Dr. Saltzman shouts, grabbing hold of Hope’s arm instinctively he starts to run.

Hope takes one quick look at the dragon and another at Dr. Saltzman trying to drag her with him, before forming her plan of action. She would’ve rolled her eyes at the man, had the situation not been life-threatening. Instead, in one swift motion, Hope sweeps an arm under Dr. Saltzman’s legs, effectively scooping the grown man up into her arms, before taking off in a sprint. Hope breathing quickly grows ragged under the exertion, despite her supernatural speed and strength, but she manages to carry herself and Dr. Saltzman away in time.

Hope drops Dr. Saltzman unceremoniously as soon as she is sure they are far enough away. The two both turn around to see the dragon’s massive claws rake deep wounds into the earth where they had just been standing seconds ago. The sound of earth being torn is an odd and genuinely heart wrenching experience. The dragon swoops back up into the air after its attack, clumps of dirt hanging off its talons, and quickly disappears from view again, presumably preparing for another dive.

Dr. Saltzman turns to Hope. “We need to move fast,” He says, before jogging off toward the scattered scouts on the other side of the torn earth.

It takes a lot of running around and some arguing between Hope and Dr. Saltzman about who is allowed to put themselves in danger, but eventually they manage to find themselves in a good position to catch the dragon. They locate a burned out clearing made by the dragon’s fire and position the scouts in a circle along the edge. Hope draws the dragon near enough to the clearing so that it can see her when she throws the knife into the center, effectively luring it into range when it comes down to retrieve it.

Everyone holds their breath as they wait for the dragon to come down, hoping that it is not smart enough to notice an obvious trap. The creature only hesitates for a second before hovering over the knife and beginning to descend.

“Now!” Dr. Saltzman shouts when the creature is only ten feet from the ground.

The scouts move forward on command, converging on the still descending beast. They quickly shoot one harpoon into the ground as the tether before loading the second harpoon in to the gun and taking aim. Dr. Saltzman had instructed them to try and space out the shots, but not to take any chances with whether or not they were going to hit. All of the hooks land in the dragon’s thicker abdomen and it lets out a scream of pain.

Hope winces at the sound, almost losing focus from the task she had been assigned. She needs to retrieve the knife, hopefully before the dragon can even get its claws on it. She rushes forward, narrowly avoiding a blast of fire as she sprints directly under the dragon so it can’t hit her. It takes her a minute or so to locate the knife, seeing as it is not that big and sort of blends in with the dirt. Once she finds it, she holds it up to signal to Dr. Saltzman.

“Alright! Everyone retreat!” Dr. Saltzman shouts once he sees Hope’s hand raised above her head.

The scouts abandon their tethers and run in the opposite direction of the writhing creature trying to set them on fire. Dr. Saltzman doesn’t run right away, watching with a held breath until Hope reaches a relatively safe distance. He waits a second longer, watching the dragon thrash and flap its wings frantically against its bonds, making the snarls and whimpers of a trapped, wounded animal. Despite the force of its massive body tugging on the ropes, the tethers hold in place, securing the creature about ten to fifteen feet off the ground.

Dr. Saltzman lets out a sigh of relief and jogs away from the clearing over to where the scouts and Hope have gathered. The group shares a few congratulations despite knowing that they are not out of the woods yet.

“Okay, good work, everyone!” Dr. Saltzman praises when he reaches the group. “Someone needs to stay close by and keep a watch on the dragon, just in case the tethers break. Nadia, I’m going to have you go talk to Sheriff Donovan. Tell him to add a wildfire to the list of press-safe explanations. I’m sure it will be fine, but if he has any problems, tell him to call me. I’m going to call Dorian and see if he’s figured out how to take down this beast. Everyone else, just stay close and, I guess, make sure nothing is too on fire.”

The scouts fan out without a word. Hope hesitates for a second nearby, glancing uncertainly between Dr. Saltzman and the ground. There is a cold, churning pit in Hope’s stomach as she finally moves to follow the scouts. A part of her wishes this fight wasn’t almost over, so she won’t have to face the consequences of her actions today. Another part of her wants it all to be over as quickly as possible, so she can finally get some sleep. Either way, she pushes down her anxiety and exhaustion, and focuses on putting out the scattered fires that the dragon made on its rampage.

The phone rings twice in Dr. Saltzman’s ear before Dorian picks up.

“Alaric, you still alive?” Dorian answers jokingly.

“Yeah, I’m still alive. I wish I could say I wasn’t surprised that the plan worked, but nobody got hurt, so I’m happy with it. Have you got any leads on how to kill this thing?”

“Yeah, I think so. Based on the few, relatively questionable sources I could find, there should be something called the soft spot, basically a sensitive area that can be pierced easily. Once good shot there should bring it down.”

Alaric furrows his brow. “Questionable sources?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how much faith you want to put into ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’.”

Alaric snorts. “Good point, but what else do we have to go on?”

“Well, preferably not the legend that says dragons are indestructible gods that will only be felled by the end of the world itself.”

“Alright, soft spot it is then. Any idea where it is?”

A prolonged rustling comes from the other end of the phone. “Um, it may or may not glow red. I don’t know, that one seems a little on the nose. Take your best guess, I suppose.”

“Alright, thanks, Dorian,” Alaric says before hanging up the phone.


	16. A Little Too Close To Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Suck it, loser,” Dana hisses, a proud smirk on her face, and God, Lizzie just loses it, right there and then. It’s like the whole world fades away until there is nothing left except this bitchy blonde and Lizzie’s undying hatred.
> 
> Nothing will ever be as satisfying in Lizzie’s life as the feeling of her fist connecting with Dana’s face. However, within seconds of that euphoric feeling, Lizzie feels hands grasping onto her, pulling her away from Dana, which is really unfortunate because Lizzie really thinks Dana deserves two black eyes, not just one. Anger and frustration rises dangerously in Lizzie’s chest when she realizes that it’s her friends holding her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks!  
Sorry, it's been a while, life is rough sometimes. On the bright side, I'm officially a high school graduate! Woo!  
Also, this chapter is only like, half edited, so, if you see a typo, that's why.  
Enjoy!

“Ugh, this is so stupid!” Lizzie growls on the sidelines after having called a timeout. “It’s like we only have two options: don’t try and lose, and try and still freaking lose!”

“Or option number three,” A familiar lilting voice grates Lizzie’s already frayed nerves even more.

Lizzie spins around to see Penelope Park, a cold, hard look on her face and a cruel smirk on her lips.

“Did anybody ask you,  _ Satan _ ?” Lizzie snaps aggressively.

“Oh, definitely not. I have nothing to do with this. MG can tell you all about it though,” Penelope practically sneers, casting one last glare before slipping away. 

MG stands blinking in response for a second, eyes following Penelope uncertainly. The part that really makes him feel uneasy though is the way Penelope never once looks at Josie, even as she walks away.

Lizzie turns to MG, apparently just noticing he was there. There is an angry, expectant glare on her face that makes MG sweat and his mouth go dry. “Well, MG? What is your _demon_ _friend_ going on about?” Lizzie spits out venomously.

“Well, um, I went for short walk to, uh, try and think of what we can do about the game,” MG lies haltingly. “Anyways, I saw some of the equipment that the wolves are using, and, um, well, their belts are tied so we can’t pull them off.”

“Oh! Fuck, of course!” Lizzie exclaims. She grumbles a few more profanities under her breath, before taking a harsh breath. “Okay, but how does that help us MG?” She snaps, “Their coach clearly doesn’t care and the game’s almost over.”

“Well, I mean, if they’re going to cheat, then we might as well cheat too, right?” MG stammers uncertainly.

Both Lizzie and Josie’s eyes go wide as soon as the words leave his mouth.

“MG, what!” Josie says, standing up from the bench. However, her words are drowned out by Lizzie’s response.

“MG, you’re a genius!” Lizzie exclaims, grabbing MG by the shoulders, her eyes brightening with a slightly unnerving intensity.

“Lizzie, no! This is the opposite of what Dad told us to do,” Josie argues. “Do you really want him to be disappointed in us?”

Lizzie falters a little, but her anger seems to overpower her fear of consequences in a second. “Listen, Jo. I told you, dad will get over it. He’s just over reacting. Nobody in Mystic Falls has enough brain power to realize that we’re supernatural.”

“Lizzie--” Josie tries again, only to be cut off.

“No, Josie, I don’t want to hear it. You’re either with us, or against us, so make your choice. Join the line up or get off the field,” Lizzie snaps, just as the coach calls them back for the end of their timeout.

Josie hesitates for a second before reluctantly following her sister out onto the field.

The team does a brief huddle, in which Lizzie quickly outlines what magic should and shouldn’t be used. After a look from Josie, Lizzie stresses that they all need to be extremely careful when doing this, but she also ends the speech by saying “let’s go show them what we’re really made of!” 

Within the next two plays, the Stallions manage to tie the score with a slightly magic aided interception and a compulsion or two. The whole team is buzzing with excitement as the Mystic Wolves call a brief timeout before what will be the last play of the game if the stallions score.

“Alright, this is moment of truth, guys! Time to show them who the real losers are so we can rub it in their ugly faces for the rest of the year!” Lizzie hypes the team. The light in her eyes is searingly bright to the point of being frightening. That look is not the kind you want to be on the receiving end of.

The timeout ends and the players line up, the ball in the Stallions possession. The ball is snapped and Lizzie fakes a running play, dodging a few players before preparing to throw. The Wolves are covering their receivers hard, so Lizzie hesitates taking a little longer to throw it. Josie, who is supposed to be covering Lizzie, notices Dana barreling toward Lizzie with a hateful look in her eyes and moves to intercept her. Josie collides with Dana in a way that makes her teeth rattle, but it gives Lizzie enough time to throw the ball.

Josie recovers enough from her tackle to see Kaleb start to sprint ahead of the player covering him to catch the ball. He seems to be on the perfect trajectory to be able to catch it, that is until Josie murmurs a spell under her breath, so that the ball shifts in mid air to fall right into the hands of one of the enemy players.

It takes a second for the Stallions to realize what it happening, which gives the wolves’ player a chance to run. Lizzie stands stock still as she watches the wolves score a winning touchdown before her very eyes. A shrill whistle rings through the air as the end of the game is called and Mystic Falls is declared the winner. Lizzie doesn’t even blink until Josie taps her on the shoulder.

“Lizzie, we’ve got to line up to high five,” Josie says, cautiously.

Lizzie doesn’t say anything, but follows Josie to go line up in the center of the field. Lizzie extends her hand limply, gritting her teeth much too hard as she starts to walk forward into the opposing line of hands. Lizzie vaguely hears her sister say good game to practically every person they pass, but she only really notices when they pass Dana and Dana responds back.

“Suck it, loser,” Dana hisses, a proud smirk on her face, and God, Lizzie just loses it, right there and then. It’s like the whole world fades away until there is nothing left except this bitchy blonde and Lizzie’s undying hatred.

Nothing will ever be as satisfying in Lizzie’s life as the feeling of her fist connecting with Dana’s face. However, within seconds of that euphoric feeling, Lizzie feels hands grasping onto her, pulling her away from Dana, which is really unfortunate because Lizzie really thinks Dana deserves two black eyes, not just one. Anger and frustration rises dangerously in Lizzie’s chest when she realizes that it’s her friends holding her back. 

Lizzie thrashes and lashes out to free herself from her friends’ grasp, and once she does, she takes off towards the school, needing to get as far away from everyone as possible. All of Lizzie’s senses feel weird and dull, but completely overwhelming at the same time, and there is this great weight seated on her chest that makes it so fucking hard to breath.

Lizzie stumbles into the nearest building, hardly aware of where she is going. She just needs to breath, but her chest just keeps getting tighter and tighter. Lizzie slams her hands against a nearby wall and, as the pain shoots down her arm, she feels the undercurrent of magic in the wall, calling to her. Instinctively, she siphons, feeling the energy flood her body, making her feel like she’s in control, even though she knows she isn't.

With the magic flowing through her veins, Lizzie lashes out, feeling it rush through her, and for just a few seconds, the weight on her chest lessens just enough for her to feel like she can breath again. So she lashes out again and again, letting her pain and anger manifest in magic to keep just enough oxygen in her lungs so she doesn’t feel like she’s going to pass out. She doesn’t even realize that she starts crying then, losing herself in the cycle of destruction.

When Lizzie finally gets in control again, she finds herself curled up on the floor of a completely trashed kitchen, shattered plates and scattered silverware all around her. She is exhausted, her body having that familiar used feel that she gets when she does too much magic in a short period of time. She is mortified at having had another episode, considering it’s been so long since her last one. She just wants to curl up into a ball and let the earth swallow her whole.

“Lizzie? Are you okay?” Josie’s voice calls tentatively from the doorway.

Lizzie’s head reluctantly rises from where it was tucked against her knees to see Josie standing halfway inside the kitchen with a broom and dust pan in hand. There is a familiar concerned look on her face and it makes Lizzie want to curl up and die even more. Still, she manages a very slight nod before burying her head back into herself.

“Hey, Liz?” Josie says, closer this time.

After a moment, Lizzie realizes that she actually needs to respond. “Yeah?” Lizzie says, hating how her voice sounds so weak and fragile.

“I’ll start taking care of this mess but you’ve got to figure out what we’re going to say to Dad,” Josie says, a slightly teasing tone to her voice.

“Oh, God,” Lizzie groans. “No, I can’t. Come on, I’ll trade you,” Lizzie offers, a little comical desparation in her voice.

Josie shakes her head and laughs a little. “Nope, there’s no way you can talk me into that one,” She says with a smile as bends down to start picking up the scattered silverware.

Lizzie groans again, but it’s a little bit lighter this time. The twins stay there for a long time, Josie cleaning and Lizzie trying to recover from her episode, neither of them really talking as they both silently dread the moment their father will get home.

Alaric lets out a long sigh as he looks out at the giant dragon corpse that takes up the majority of the clearing in front of him. It only took a few tries for him to land a crossbow bolt to the underside of the dragon’s neck, which appears to be where the soft spot is, considering the dragon collapsed right after it was pierced. Honestly, it was a little anti climactic for Alaric, not that he is really complaining.

“Alright, after you guys finish packing up, you should start taking care of this body. See if you can burn it, if not, cut it up and bury it, I guess,” Alaric addresses the scouts, who look less than pleased to have to complete such a task. 

Then Alaric turns to Hope, who is standing around awkwardly, doing her best to avoid eye contact. “Hope,” He says, his voice sharp and stern. “Go wait in the car. I’m going to send the boys ahead with one of the scouts, and then we’re going to have a little talk.”

Hope takes the keys from Dr. Saltzman with a grim nod, never meeting his eyes for fear of the anger and disappointment she would find there.

Alaric sighs as he watches Hope walk away. His heart is heavy, knowing that this won’t be pleasant for either of them. After a moment, Alaric heads back to the cellar where Rafael and Landon are, texting Dorian on the way to let him know that the dragon was dead and everyone was safe.

Alaric knocks lightly on the cellar doors and he is greeted by the scout inside, a short werewolf in his mid twenties named Robert.

“Hey, Alaric, what’s the word?”

“Dragon is dead and everybody is unscathed. How are the boys?”

“Same place you left them. They don’t seem like they’re in good shape, but after all this, I wouldn’t expect them to be,” Robert says, casting a glance toward the back of the cellar where Landon and Rafael are. “So what’s next?”

“I’m going to have you take those two back to the school and drop them off with Butch. I have to talk to Hope before we head back, and I think it’d be best if they head over sooner rather than later.”

“Sounds good, Boss,” Robert says, venturing into the cellar to coax Rafael and Landon out.

The two boys are just about where Alaric left them, huddled on the dirty cellar floor, Landon’s head buried into Rafael’s chest and Raf’s arms wrapped protectively around his brother’s shoulders. Raf’s head perks up as Alaric and Robert approach, his gaze sharp and threatening.

Alaric stops several feet away from the pair, not wanting to get too close to the volatile young wolf. “How is he?” Alaric asks Rafael gently when he notices the slow rise and fall of Landon’s chest.

Rafael narrows his eyes at Dr. Saltzman. “Since when do you care?” He growls lowly.

Alaric sighs and takes a slight step forward. “Rafael, look, I never intended to hurt you or your brother and I am very sorry about all that has happened in the last two days. I promise that Hope will be punished for what has happened today and that I really do care about you and your brother’s wellbeing.”

Rafael scoffs and rolls his eyes, not trusting himself to respond with anything more so as not to risk waking Landon.

Alaric lets his shoulders slump at this. It’s been too long of a day. “Alright then, I’m going to have Robert here take you and Landon back to the school where Butch will assign you to a new room so that you and Landon can stay together.”

“What makes you think we’re going back to your school?” Rafael snaps, his arms instinctively tighting a little around Landon.

“I understand where you are coming from Rafael, but, please believe me when I say that the school is the safest place for you and Landon right now. I know you don’t trust  _ me _ , but regardless of that, the Salvatore school is a safe place where you will have a bed, food, and a lot of people who care about you. Can you really give that up so easily?” Alaric says, and by the look on Rafael’s face, he knows that he has won.

“Fine, but you better stay the hell away from Landon,” Rafael growls.

Alaric doesn’t respond to that, just turns to Robert and tells him to take it from there. Then with one more guarded glance at Rafael, Alaric leaves the cellar.

The cellar is quiet for a moment, Rafael watching sharply as Robert picks up the bag he came in with and turns back toward them.

“My car is just at the edge of the forest,” Robert says gently, tilting his head in the indicated direction. “By the way, you could probably just carry Landon if you don’t want to wake him up. It’s about an hour and a half drive, so it’d probably be nice to let him sleep through it.”

Rafael’s hard, watchful expression softens slightly at the words. He nods at the scout and shifts one arm under Landon’s legs so he can carry him. Robert smiles slightly at Rafael as the boy gets to his feet with his brother in his arms and they head out of the cellar in silence.

Hope almost flinches when Dr. Saltzman opens up the door to the car. She watches him out of the corner of her eyes as he climbs into the driver’s seat and heaves a sigh. His expression is more tired than anything, but Hope can still see the disappointment and frustration in his eyes when he finally looks at her.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Alaric hisses after a long moment, cutting through the tense silence between them.

Hope tries to explain, to say anything, but her throat feels hot and tight and she can’t seem to get any words out. She fiddles with her hands, continuing to crack her knuckles long after she knows they will no longer pop.

“That was a live question, Hope,” Alaric prompts, clearly not willing to let this question go unanswered.

Hope lets a breath out through her nose before forcing the words out of her throat. “I don’t know…” Hope mumbles scolds. “I wasn’t, I guess.”

“Clearly,” Alaric says, his voice growing a little harsher. “I mean, I know you were upset that he lied, and, I know that it was a stressful situation, but that doesn’t make the way you acted acceptable. Landon could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”

“I know.”

“The last couple of days have been trying, but that anger, Hope, that anger isn’t you. You’re better than that. You have to be.” Alaric snaps, his voice rising unconsciously as he speaks. “I won’t let you become what your father was.”

That last sentence cuts through Hope’s chest like a hot knife, the tears in her eyes finally falling despite her efforts to hold them in. She doesn’t bother to say anything. Even if she had wanted to, she doesn’t think she could.

Alaric sighs deeply as his words hang in the air around them. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled,” He says quietly, running a hand through his slightly singed hair. “But, things are going to have to change from now on, Hope.”

Hope nods slightly in understanding, as she chews on her lip and tries to blink the tears out of her eyes. 

“I want you to see Emma tomorrow morning and for you to start having sessions twice a week. And I need you to actually try and work with her this time, Hope. Do you understand?”

Hope opens her mouth, at first intending to argue, but one glance at Dr. Saltzman and her objections die on her tongue. “I understand.”

“Good. You won’t be allowed to go on missions until further notice and under no circumstances are you to go anywhere near Landon for as long as he is with us. Do you understand?”

At the mention of Landon, Hope can’t help but see the terrified look on his face as she ripped the knife from his jacket. New tears prickle at her eyes as she nods.

“Also, when we get back to the school tonight, you can grab something to eat from the dining hall, but I want you confined to your room for the rest of the evening. And I reserve the right to tack on any more punishments as I see fit for the foreseeable future. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Hope murmurs, wondering if she’ll even be able to stomach any food with the way hers is churning right now.

“Okay,” Alaric concludes with another sigh. “Let go home then.”

Dr. Saltzman turns on his lights and sets off down the deserted county highway.


	17. A Bid Goodnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Raf, where are we?” Landon asks, his brow furrowing.
> 
> “At the Salvatore school, man.”
> 
> “Oh.”
> 
> When Rafael hears footsteps heading toward them, he turns his head to see Butch approaching the car.
> 
> “Come on, they got a room waiting for us,” Rafael says, opening his door without his eyes leaving Landon.
> 
> “Okay,” Landon murmurs tiredly, moving to exit from the other side of the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks!  
I’ve been thinking about this fic a lot lately. My brother and I were talking about some stuff I planned for this fic and it turned into a two day long discussion and a time line on the back of my door. Long story short, I have ~ideas~ and the timeline of events might start to change after I get past episode four in some major ways. Basically it’s a lot of shuffling and tinkering so that the rising action and major plot progression makes more sense, hopefully. Just a heads up, if you’re curious or have any ideas, absolutely let me know!  
Also this chapter is a bit short because it’s basically wrap up for all the conflicts. I didn’t want to artificially extend it and ruin the mood.  
Boy that was a lot of words, anyways, Enjoy!

It’s pitch dark outside when Rafael and Landon arrive back at the school. When Robert cuts the engine and opens up the driver’s side door, Landon stirs slightly from where his head his resting against Rafael’s shoulder. Rafael doesn’t move, unsure of whether or not he should wake Landon up. The trunk of the car opens up and a voice calls from behind them.

“I’m just going to head in and put some stuff away, but Butch will be down here in a minute to come get you boys and take you to your new room, okay?” Robert says, his voice accompanied by the sound of bags being shuffled around.

Landon murmurs slightly at the sound, and Rafael can tell that he is waking up. In fact, if Rafael listens closely, he can actually hear his brother’s heartbeat and breathing change. That must be a werewolf thing or something because he definitely couldn’t do that before. 

At the sound of the trunk closing, Landon’s eyes finally flutter open. He sits up with a yawn and rubs his eyes, before turning to Raf with a bleary expression.

“Raf, where are we?” Landon asks, his brow furrowing.

“At the Salvatore school, man.”

“Oh.”

When Rafael hears footsteps heading toward them, he turns his head to see Butch approaching the car.

“Come on, they got a room waiting for us,” Rafael says, opening his door without his eyes leaving Landon.

“Okay,” Landon murmurs tiredly, moving to exit from the other side of the car.

Once they are both out of the car, Butch greets them with a gentle smile, “Hey, boys. You both look like you could use a good night’s sleep. Let’s get you inside to your new room, okay?”

The brothers follow Butch into the werewolf dorm building and into a new room. It is a sparsely furnished double room with no decorations to speak of. However there is bedding on the beds, and that’s more than enough for now.

“We can transfer the stuff in your other room here tomorrow, Rafael. You two just get some rest,” Butch says, heading for the door.

Rafael gives a slight nod and both boys collapse on the beds without another word. Butch can’t help but smile a little as she closes the door behind her.

The world is dark and silent as Dr. Saltzman pulls up to the sleeping school. Him and Hope exit the vehicle without saying anything, Alaric grabbing his duffle bag out of the trunk and meeting Hope on the other side of the car.

“Make sure to get something to eat before you head to your room,” Alaric says, his voice soft and caring even through his exhaustion.

Hope nods but doesn’t trust herself to say anything in return. She starts to turn away, but then she feels Alaric’s hand on her shoulder. She turns around to face him again and he silently pulls her into a hug. Hope lays her head against Dr. Saltzman’s chest and relaxes into the embrace, trying to ignore the ache in her chest that reminds her of how much she misses her father.

“We’re going to figure this out, okay? Together,” Alaric says, rubbing soft circles on Hope’s back.

Hope nods against Dr. Saltzman’s chest, forcing herself not to cry again.

“Okay,” Alaric says as he slowly steps back. “Get some rest.”

Hope nods again and finally heads off toward the dining hall. Alaric watches her go before readjusting the duffle bag on his shoulder and heading inside the admin building nearby. He drops the bag off in his office and then goes to find Dorian. He finds Dorian in the staff library, putting some books away.

Dorian’s head snaps up when he hears Alaric enter the library, his expression immediately becoming a relieved, tired smile.

“Hey, Dorian,” Alaric says as the two men close the space between them.

When they reach each other, Dorian immediately wraps his arms around Alaric in a firm hug that Alaric quickly reciprocates.

“Glad to see you in one piece, Ric,” Dorian says as he pulls away.

“Glad to be in one piece,” Alaric says with a wry chuckle, before adding, “if a little rougher around the edges.” Alaric fingers the singed ends of his hair as way of explanation.

Dorian laughs. “I think the local barber might have some questions if you go in like that.”

Alaric shrugs. “Cooking accident?”

“From what I know of your cooking, Ric, that’s not too farfetched.”

The two men share another laugh in the dead silence of the night.

“So, how did the game go?” Alaric asks after a moment.

Dorian raises an eyebrow before proceeding to explain the unfortunate events of his side of the day.

Alaric lets out a forceful sigh once Dorian is done. “Well, I guess I have to add thinking up another set of punishments to my to do list,” He mutters.

“Well, I already ordered a new shipment of dishes, so you don’t have to worry about that,” Dorian says.

“Thanks, Dorian,” Alaric says, a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I suppose I should go check up on the girls before anything else, huh?”

“Probably,” Dorian says, “Just don’t forget to get some sleep, Ric. We can clean this mess up tomorrow.”

Alaric nods before heading out the door, but Dorian knows better than to trust his friend’s sleeping habits. Dorian shakes his head, knowing he will have to check up on Alaric later to make sure he gets to bed.

Alaric knocks lightly on his daughters’ bedroom door. The door moves under his fist, the door likely having been left open for him. He quietly slips inside and tries to see Josie and Lizzie through the darkness. They are both in the same bed and begin to stir as Alaric takes a few steps inside.

“Dad?” Josie murmurs through the darkness, Lizzie’s shadow sitting up next to her. “We can explain…” Josie says quickly, worry in her voice.

“It’s okay, girls. It’s been a long day and I’m about ready for it to be over,” Alaric says softly, giving a reassuring rub to both of his daughters’ upper arms. “I just want to make sure you girls are okay.”

Both girls let out a relieved breath and move to hug their dad. Alaric wraps one arm around each of them and holds them tightly. Alaric hates the days when he has to wonder what his girls would do without him and today was definitely one of those days.

“You girls know I love you no matter what, right?” Alaric murmurs.

Both girls’ heads nod against Alaric’s shoulders.

“Good,” Alaric says, feeling himself getting choked up. After a moment of composing himself, he reluctantly pulls away from the hug and moves to leave. “I’ll let you get back to sleep then.”

Alaric is almost at the door when he hears Josie’s voice call softly from behind him.

“Dad?”

“Yeah, Jo?”

“We love you too.”

“Thank you, Josie. Have a good night.”

“Night, Dad.”

Dorian eventually finds Alaric sitting out by the main entrance on a small stone step that is part of the school’s entrance arch. He walks over and takes a seat next to Alaric before he says anything.

“What are you doing out here, Ric?” Dorian asks gently, his voice absent of criticism or judgement.

Alaric sighs. “Just thinking, I guess.”

“What about?”

“...I made a promise to protect these kids, Dorian. How am I supposed to protect them from things that aren’t supposed to exist?”

“I wish I could tell you, Ric.”

Alaric lays his head down in his hands not for the first time today. It takes a long moment for him to raise his head back up, but Dorian waits patiently until Alaric meets his eyes.

“When you get a chance, Dorian, can you call that witch we’re negotiating with about the head of security position. Give them whatever they need, just get them here as soon as possible. I have a feeling we’re going to need every set of hands we can get.”

“Only if you go and get some sleep, right now,” Dorian says with a knowing smile.

Alaric lets out a chuckle and nods. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

They share a finalizing handshake and walk back to the admin building in comfortable silence.

Alaric does change and get into bed after parting from Dorian, but there is still one more thing he has to do before he can even attempt to sleep. The covers of his bedding are bunched up around his hips as he stares up at the ceiling, steeling himself for one more task. He reaches for his cell phone on the bedside table and types in a familiar number.

“Caroline?” Alaric says once the other side of the phone picks up. “...Hey, sorry I didn’t check what time it is there before calling. Hopefully, I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”

Alaric chuckles a little at Caroline’s response. “Yeah, I know, but anyways, I’m calling because we had a pretty rough day today. I was off fighting a dragon so I missed another of the girls’ football games.”

Alaric pauses to listen to Caroline’s response. “Yeah, a real, live dragon… Yeah, I’ll let you know when we figure out what is going on with that. All things considered though, the whole dragon thing went fairly well. No one got hurt. However, the girls’ game was less than ideal.”

Alaric takes a deep breath before explaining. “Lizzie cold cocked one of the kids on the other team and then broke a third of our dishware, not to mention the entire team disobeyed my very clear instructions.”

Alaric falls silent as he listens to Caroline for a moment. “...Lizzie and Josie are fine. To quote MG, ‘you should’ve seen the other guy’”

Alaric laughs lightly before continuing. “Anyways, I was hoping you could find a chance to talk to them about it. They tend to tell you more than they do with me, and I think it would just be good for them to hear from you after all of this.”

“...Yeah, we’re still on lockdown, so they should be able call you around 10 tomorrow morning… Sounds like a plan.” Alaric pauses and furrows his brow for a moment. “There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, but I can’t remember what it was.”

“... very funny, I’m not that old. Oh! I got it. Do you happen to know anyone that could translate what I’m 97% sure is ancient Gaelic off of an artifact?”

“...It’s inscribed on a knife. I’ll get it scanned and send you the images if that works?”

Alaric lets out a sigh of relief when Caroline agrees. “Thanks, Caroline. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Alaric hangs up the phone and haphazardly pushes it back onto his cluttered bedside table. Something falls off in the process, but it didn’t sound like his phone, so he ignores it. Finally, Alaric rolls onto his side and lets his exhaustion drag him into oblivion.

Hope is heading to her dorm room after consuming several protein bars in an unhealthily short amount of time when she hears a set of footsteps coming toward her. No one else should be awake at this point and despite how tired she is, Hope is still on high alert from the day she’s had, so she freezes and trains her eyes to where the steps are coming from.

Rafael rounds the corner of the hall quickly and Hope feels her heart sink into the pit of dread in her stomach. She remains frozen as Rafael approaches her with a notably aggressive gait, unable look away from the boy with yellow flickering in his eyes as she waits for the consequences of her actions.

When Raf reaches Hope, he immediately shoves her with all of his might, a deep growl emanating from his throat. Hope, somewhat predicting the attack, manages to stay upright, only stumbling back a few feet. Hope opens her mouth to try and say something, maybe an apology, but Rafael cuts her off.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Hope?” Raf snarls, so much of his voice growl that his words are almost indistinguishable from the rough sound. “I trusted you! You said you wouldn’t hurt him! Fucking liar!”

Hope wants to argue, it’s sort of her default setting, but she knows better then aggravate the recently turned werewolf anymore than he already is. Also, Rafael is right to be angry. She deserves his anger and she can’t deny it. She can’t even bring herself to look away from the golden eyes that look at her with so much hate.

Likely due to Hope’s lack of reaction, Rafael takes a second to get a hold of himself. Then he continues, his voice quieter and more controlled, but crueler than before.

“You know, I’m not surprised that no one in this school can stand you,” Raf spits out venomously. “You’re a shitty person, Hope Mikaelson, and I’ve met plenty of shitty people, so I know one when I see one. If you come anywhere near by brother again, I will make you regret the day you were born!”

Hope only nods solemnly, finally able to let her gaze fall to the floor. Rafael seems satisfied and turns on his heels with one last growl. Hope listens to his steps fade away into the night, every footfall reminding her of his anger, of what he had said, of how it was true. Hope can feel tears prickle at her eyes for the third time in a few hours, but she’s alone this time, so she just lets them fall as she finally makes it to her room and curls up under her covers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is silly, but writing this chapter made me realize that the superior ship in all that adult love triangle bs is clearly Alaric/Dorian.  
What if we ran a school together,,,, 😳 and we were both boys,, 😳 jk,,,,, unless 😳


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Landon wakes up to a series of uncomfortable sensations. His throat hurts and his mouth is as dry as a desert. His body aches in so many places and he can’t for a good solid minute remember where he is or how he got there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... so guess who's still alive.  
I appreciate all of your patience with me if you're still reading this after all this time. I just went through some real bad lack of motivation shit and then started my first year of college, and I am awful at online school. Then I got really depressed for a bit, and apparently the solution to that was to jump back into old hyperfixations. So that's how I ended up back here I guess.  
Also, I actually jumped into three different hyperfixations, old and new, which is not great for getting my school work done, but make me feel better, so I guess whatever works. The point being I started a twitch channel, so if you want to check it out, I'll leave the link in the description. So far it's just me playing 10 year old flash games and rambling about random stuff. Also, I plan on making a youtube video talking about some Legacies criticism and stuff, so I'll let you guys know about that as soon as I actually figure out how to edit video and make it.  
Thank you for your time and, as always, Enjoy!

Landon wakes up to a series of uncomfortable sensations. His throat hurts and his mouth is as dry as a desert. His body aches in so many places and he can’t for a good solid minute remember where he is or how he got there.

Landon’s eyes fly open in a slight panic, his eyes scanning the unfamiliar room quickly. His body only relaxes once his gaze lands on Rafael sprawled on the bed next to his, the blankets bunched up oddly around his brother’s legs due to Raf’s restless sleeping habits. Landon closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths to bring himself down from the edge of panic. He does his best to breath quietly, not wanting to accidentally wake Raf up for a stupid reason, even though he knows that Raf is a heavy sleeper.

Once he has calmed down, Landon tries to go back to sleep, but he can’t seem to. He is painfully aware that he hasn’t drank any water in a good while and that he hasn’t eaten in about 24 hours. Plus he has always been a rather light sleeper and struggles to fall asleep most nights, so after a few minutes, Landon gives up on the idea that he will be able to get back to sleep. Not to mention, he really needs to pee.

Landon glances over at Rafael. Despite having slept a full night and still being asleep, Raf still looks exhausted, his face spattered with dirt or some kind of debris from navigating the forest. Landon feels a sharp spear of guilt in his gut at seeing the rough state of his brother, knowing that Raf only had to go through any of that because of him. Landon internally admonishes himself for even considering waking Rafael up, especially for something as stupid as needing help to find the bathroom.

Landon waits another ten minutes, before deciding he really couldn’t wait until Raf woke up to pee and that he would have to find the bathroom by himself. He feels stupid for being so nervous to do something as simple as walking out of the room by himself. He bites on the inside of his cheek as he makes his way to the door as quietly as possible.

Landon’s lungs feel tight as he closes the door behind him. He makes a note to remember what room number he is in before starting down the hall to his left. He walks down the hall, checking doors, failing to find one that indicated a bathroom on the other side. He wanders blindly for a while before running into a vaguely familiar face.

“Oh, well if isn’t our resident unidentified,” The girl says, a smirk on her face. “Fancy meeting you here.”

With the unfamiliar environment, Landon almost finds the girl’s familiar lilting tone comforting. She is dressed in a similar style as the night before, a creative take on the school uniform. Landon thinks that her hair might be shorter than the last time he saw her, but he can’t be sure, so he doesn’t want to say anything. The girl’s gaze is also sharper than the other night, no longer dulled with alcohol, making it even more penetrative and unnerving.

“Oh, um, I--” Landon stammers nervously, unable to find a reasonable response. The girl reminds him of all the pretty and popular girls that used to pick on him at all the schools he’s ever been to, and it makes him freeze up.

The girl makes an amused sound and smiles smugly at his nervousness. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Penelope Park,” She says, extending a hand out to Landon.

“I’m Landon,” Landon mutters, his hands reflexively finding his pockets instead of Penelope’s outstretched one. Landon rushes to apologize when he sees her raise a questioning eyebrow at him. “Sorry, I just, um, my hands are kinda sweaty. You probably don’t want that so, I figured…”

“Yeah, no, that’s fine,” Penelope says, taking her hand back. She is silent for a moment after, observing Landon with an intensity that makes Landon feel nervous. He isn’t sure if he should say something or not, and he ends up erring on the side of speaking, which he almost instantly regrets.

“I, um, I didn’t know that, uh, that these floors were co-ed,” Landon stammers.

Penelope lets out a surprised laugh, although it doesn’t really have any humor in it. “_Excuse_ me,” She say in exaggerated offense. “Did you just mistake me for a werewolf?”

Landon’s eyes go wide. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I didn’t think, I mean, I didn’t know. I--” Landon stumbles over his words as he hurries to apologize again.

Penelope tilts her head to the side a little in curiosity at Landon’s response, her gaze softening an imperceptible amount. “It’s fine, I was just joking. I mean I am wandering around the werewolf dorm at 8 in the morning, so it’s understandable why you would assume.”

Landon seems to relax a little at her words, or at least manages to stop muttering apologies.

“For future reference, I’m Salvatore’s resident troublemaking witch,” Penelope says with a little dramatic flourish of her hand.

“Oh, okay,” Landon says, taking a moment to process things now that he isn’t panicked about offending Penelope. “What are you doing up here then?”

“I’m looking for Butch. I figured she might be up here checking on her newest recruit.”

“Oh, the dean? she seemed nice,” Landon says a little absently.

“You won’t be surprised to find she’s the most reasonable person in this entire school. But seeing that she is not here, I suppose it is time I take my leave,” Penelope says, starting to walk past Landon. She stops when she is right next to him and leans in to speak into his ear. “By the way, the bathroom is at the end of the hall on the right.”

“Oh thank god,” Landon murmurs in relief as he rushes down the hall.

Penelope eventually finds Butch fixing a broken equipment cart in the werewolf active area. She is sitting cross legged on the floor with a screwdriver in her hand, grumbling down at a busted wheel.

“Morning, Butch,” Penelope greets with a smirk.

Butch starts a little, her head spinning around with a surprised grunt. “Oh, hey, Penelope,” She says distractedly, before turning her attention back to the broken cart.

Penelope’s smirk wilts a little, frustrated to not have the werewolf’s attention. She walks over to Butch, moving so she is in Butch’s field of vision. “I just came by to say thanks for the hairdresser recommendation. He is prompt and pleasant, and quite good at what he does,” Penelope says, flipping her hair pointedly.

“Hm?” Butch murmurs, clearly not having been paying attention. Penelope huffs a little and Butch seems to snap out of her concentration. “Oh, sorry, Penelope. I’ve been wrestling with this wheel for almost 40 minutes now. What’s up?” Butch says, standing up and giving Penelope her attention.

Penelope gives Butch an expectant look and flips her hair again.

“Oh! Wow, that was fast work. I’m surprised he was able to come down on such short notice,” Butch says, finally realizing what Penelope wanted from her. She steps closer to take a better look at Penelope’s haircut. “Damn, looking good, Penelope. That man does good work,” Butch comments, making a low impressed whistle.

Penelope sports a smug smile at the compliment, giving a little pose to show off. “You’re too sweet, Butch,” Penelope says in an over the top flirty tone.

Butch snorts at Penelope’s theatrics and rolls her eyes. Then she takes a step back toward her project, looking down on it with a frustrated expression. “You wanna throw me a little help on this wheel, Park? I feel like I’m missing something.”

Penelope raises one eyebrow at the cart for a moment before performing an attraction spell that lifts a small metal piece into the air from where it lay on the floor a few feet away. “I believe you are missing this piece,” Penelope says smugly, holding the piece out to Butch.

Butch takes the metal piece with a disbelieving and amused expression. “How long did you know that was there?”

Penelope shrugs with a faux innocent expression. “Since I walked in,” She says simply.

Butch lets out a laugh followed by a sigh. “You like to watch me suffer, don’t you?” She says jokingly with a slight disapproving shake of her head.

“Only a little,” Penelope says, a mischievous look on her face.

“Alright, well, I think I’ve suffered enough for one morning and I believe that you should be heading to class soon, right?”

“I suppose,” Penelope says, moving to leave, before pausing in the doorway and speaking over her shoulder. “Oh, and, Butch, I believe one of your new recruits is awake.”

“Oh, shoot, yeah. I almost forgot. Thanks, Penelope,” Butch says, rushing out the door past Penelope, the still broken cart left in a heap behind her.

When a knock sounds outside Alaric’s office early in the morning, he feels a sharp wave of panic, wondering what could’ve happened now. Thankfully, there is no new danger, just his daughter on the other side of the door.

“Morning, Josie,” Alaric greets, opening the door all the way to let her in. “What brings you here?”

Josie fiddles with an unknown packet of paper in her hands, not quite looking at her father. “Morning, Dad. I actually wanted to talk to you about something. I know we are still recovering from the whole dragon thing and I know we’re still in trouble for the football game, but there’s never really a good time and I think sooner is better…” Josie rambles.

“Yes? What is it, Josie?” Alaric says, politely cutting her off.

“Okay, I think I’ve mentioned before how I thought it would be a good idea to include offensive magic to the curriculum, and you said that you didn’t think it was a good idea but then I convinced you to hear me out.” Josie waits a moment to see recognition in Alaric’s eyes before continuing. She walks forward and hands him the packet in her hands. “Well, this is my proposal.”

Alaric takes the papers, his eyebrow raising as he sees how thick it is.

“The first ten pages are the comprehensive argument for why we should teach offensive magic and then the next ten outline what I think might be a good starting place on how to set up the curriculum. Obviously, it’s just a rough outline, but I figured it would help illustrate the idea better,” Josie finishes her explanation with a bright smile, looking incredibly proud of her work.

“Wow,” Alaric says, taken aback at first. “That’s quite the proposal, Josie,” He says, smiling hesitantly, internally trying to figure out when he will have time to read a twenty page curriculum proposal.

“I wanted to make sure I was thorough,” Josie says, practically beaming.

“I’m sure you were very thorough. I will put it on the pile and let you know after I have a chance to read it,” Alaric says, trying to sound even a fraction as excited as Josie is.

“Okay, thanks, Dad!” Josie says, moving to give her dad a hug before heading out the door.

Once Josie is gone, Alaric lets out a long sigh and rubs his face roughly with his hands. He plops the proposal down next to several textbook sized tomes that are piled on his desk. He’ll have to get to it after he is done with his current research project: trying to learn literally anything about their recently stolen and recovered knife. He drags one of the books in front of him and when he opens it to start reading, it releases a cloud of dust. Alaric coughs and then sighs as he gets to work.

Landon is starting to nod off waiting for Rafael to wake up, when a knock on the door jolts them both awake. Rafael’s body tenses for a second before his eyes find Landon in the bed next to him. Then he yawns and rubs a hand over his face as he gets to his feet to answer the door. When he opens the door, he finds Butch on the other side, who looks slightly amused at the tired look on Raf’s face.

“Morning, boys. I hope you slept well,” Butch says, stepping into the room.

Rafael murmurs tiredly in response and Landon just nods from his spot on his bed.

Butch chuckles. “That’s about what I expected. Hopefully you’ll get a chance to catch up on sleep in the next couple days. Unfortunately, however, there are a few things it would be good to get done today. So, first things first, I’m sure you would like a change of clothes and probably a shower.”

“God, yes, I could use a shower,” Rafael says.

“Alright, then let’s get you a towel and some clothes. Shampoo and soap should be in the stalls when you get there, but check before you turn it on,” Butch says, turning around to head back out of the dorm.

After a shower and a change of clothes, which fit a little weirdly, but it could be worse, Butch has them stop by the dining hall for breakfast before taking them to Dr. Saltzman’s office. Neither Landon nor Rafael are particularly happy to see Alaric, but it doesn’t seem like they have much choice in the matter.

“Good morning, boys,” Alaric says as the boys file into his office. “I hope you’re settling in okay.”

Rafael offers no response besides a glare and a crossing of his arms. Landon doesn’t respond either, refusing to even look at Dr. Saltzman.

Alaric continues, not really phased, ”Well, it’s good to see you alive and well. I’m very glad to have you both here. I wanted to have a brief chat with you, Rafael, before sending you off to your counselor to get you signed up for classes.”

“I just wanted to assure you that no one at this school condones what happened yesterday. Hope is being punished appropriately for her behavior. I am deeply sorry for any harm we have caused to you and your brother, and I’m sure that Hope feels the same way.”

Rafael scoffs at that.

“I want to make is clear that we take these issues seriously, so please, if you have any more issues or ever feel unsafe, talk to a faculty member and we will do everything we can.”

Rafael’s expression doesn’t change, still not looking convinced in the slightest. “Is that it?” Rafael says with scowl.

“Yes, you can go with Butch to meet with your counselor now. Thank you for your time,” Alaric concludes, moving to shuffle some papers on his desk.

Rafael and Landon get up from their chairs and head toward the door, where Butch is waiting just outside.

“Oh, actually, Landon, I wanted to talk to you about something as well,” Alaric calls after them just as they reach the door.

If looks could kill, Rafael would have blood on his hands. He instinctively puts himself between Landon and Alaric, a low growl rumbling in his chest involuntarily. “You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m leaving him alone with you again,” He growls. “If you have something to say, you can say it to both of us.”

Alaric lets out a slightly exasperated sigh. He assumed this would happen, but you can’t blame a guy for trying. “Well, then, I suppose you can take your seats again.”

Landon and Rafael move back toward Alaric’s desk, but Raf only balances himself on the arm of the chair, imposing himself over Alaric.

“Well, Landon, I was hoping to get your testing done today while Rafael is talking to his counselor, however, obviously we had planned for Hope to perform the testing. Given recent events, I completely understand if you are no longer comfortable with that arrangement.”

“No duh,” Rafael grumbles under his breath, still giving Alaric a death glare.

Alaric gives a forced smile before continuing. “However, the reason we were having Hope complete the tests in the first place was because she is the only non-faculty person at the school who is qualified to conduct all of the tests. That being said, I don’t know if you noticed while you were here, but we have a bit of an understaffing problem. Not a lot of applications coming in. The point being, if you are no longer comfortable having Hope do the tests, then it may take up to a week before we have any faculty members are free to conduct the tests. They are already overworked given everything that’s going on.”

“So, we wait, I don’t see what the problem is,” Rafael snaps.

“Well, Rafael, it may help us to solve this mystery going on if we understood Landon nature sooner rather than later. But obviously it is up to him.”

Landon meets Alaric’s eyes for brief moment, his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his teeth worrying at his cheek. It almost seems like Alaric knows how guilty Landon already feels and is trying to exploit that to get Landon to do what he wants him too. It makes Landon like Alaric even less than he already does, but it’s not like the man isn’t right. If he doesn’t do the tests soon, he could be putting the school in even more danger than he probably already has. Plus, it’s not like he even knows how he feels about Hope right now, although Raf seems to have decided for him,

“Hope can do the tests,” Landon says quietly after a moment. His eyes immediately find the floor to avoid the incredulous look on Rafael’s face.

“What?” Rafael says aggressively, spinning to face Landon. “What are you talking about, dude. She literally assaulted you and you’re just over it? Water under the bridge?”

“It’s not about that, Raf,” Landon murmurs, purposefully not actually answering his brother’s question.

“I don’t care what it’s about. I don’t trust her, and I don’t want her anywhere near you!” Rafael says, his voice getting dangerously loud.

Landon shys away from his brother, feeling like he’s betrayed Raf by not agreeing with him when he’s just trying to protect Landon.

“I don’t believe it’s your decision to make, Rafael,” Alaric says evenly, and it makes Landon certain that he planned for this to happen.

Rafael turns on Alaric, his hands clenched into fists. He looks like he’s going to do something that he would regret, so Landon reaches out and grabs his wrist to hold him back.

“It’s okay, Raf. I’ll be okay. It’s just for little bit,” Landon says softly.

Raf turns back to his brother, some of his anger dissipating. “She hurt you, man.” He says quietly, and Landon can hear every ounce of care and concern in his voice.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll come find you once I’m done, okay.”

Rafael is silent for a moment, searching Landon’s eyes for any amount of insincerity. Eventually he heaves a sigh and agrees reluctantly.

“Alright, then,” Alaric says, his voice grating to both boys as he breaks the moment between them. “Rafael, Butch will take you to go see your counselor and Landon, I will text Hope to let her know that we will be conducting the tests today. Once she gets back to me, I will let you know where to meet her.”

Rafael lingers a moment, clearly still not wanting to leave his brother. He finally breaks when Butch comes in to ask him if he’s ready to go. Raf nods and they head for the door. Butch can vaguely be heard attempting to reassure Rafael that his brother will be safe as they leave earshot.

There is long awkward moment of silence as Alaric and Landon sit alone in the office. Landon would normally feel anxious in that sort of moment and feel the need to break the silence, but with it being Alaric, he doesn’t really care that much.

“So,” Alaric says after a moment, “there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve been going over the police report about what happened on the bus and somethings aren’t lining up for me. I was hoping you could maybe fill in something.”

Landon immediately looks ten times as nervous. “Um,” is all he says in response, really not wanting to talk about it, but not knowing how to say no.

“I understand that this was a very traumatic experience for you, and I’m sure you haven’t had a chance to process much of it, so it’s okay if you don’t remember. However, if you do, it would be really helpful for me to know. Is that okay?”

“I guess, that’s okay.”

“The issue I’m having is based on the police report, it doesn’t seem like anyone had a chance to escape the bus before it was incinerated. They were all still in their seats. You described the events as you were on the bus, then the bus stopped because the dragon walked onto the road and then she breathed fire, burning the bus. At what point did you manage to get out of the bus?” Alaric says, his brow furrowed.

Landon only grows more and more uncomfortable. The events of that day were a blur for him. It was dark. He was anxious and exhausted. The way Alaric put it didn’t make any sense. He kept trying to find an answer, but there wasn’t one in his memory and his chest was growing tighter and tighter.

“I don’t know!” Landon snaps suddenly. “It doesn’t make sense, I don’t remember what happened and…” Landon rambles his voice shaking.

“It’s okay,” Alaric says, his voice actually managing to be soothing for the first time since Landon met him. “Don’t push yourself to remember. It’s normal to not remember a traumatic even right away, even ever. Don’t force it, okay?”

Landon takes few deep breaths pushing the memories of that day back down into the forgotten parts of his mind, where they belong.

“If you do end up remembering anything, though, let me know, okay?” Alaric says, with a small reassuring smile.

“Okay,” Landon says, still taking deep breaths.

“Anyways, Hope texted me back, you can meet her in the courtyard.”

Landon doesn’t move, staring back at Alaric with a nervous expression.

“Do you know where the courtyard is?”

Landon shakes his head quickly.

Alaric chuckles lightly. “I’ll walk you out and point you in the right direction, but if you ever get lost in the school, just ask someone.”

They walk out of the building together in silence. Alaric points him down a pathway that leads to a grassy area roughly enclosed by each of the dorm buildings. Landon nods his understanding and makes his way down the path quickly, not wanting to keep Hope waiting. As he gets closer to the courtyard, he sees Hope sitting on a stone boarder that encloses some flowers and bushes along one of the buildings.

She looks up as soon as he is visible to her, almost like she could feel him coming. Their eyes meet for only a moment before her head ducks down. Landon almost stops his approach. She clearly doesn’t want to see him. He’s not even sure he wants to see her. But he keeps going anyways, knowing that there really isn’t anywhere for him to run now that she’s seen him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/werederg  
I'll be streaming over the weekend.  
Also, Surprise, surprise, it's the exact same username. I'll give you three guesses for what my empty Youtube channel is called, lmao.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you liked it. I crave validation. Also if you have any questions about where the story will go, I'll answer them happily.


End file.
